Marriage equality advocates have welcomed statements today from the Victorian Council of Churches and the Rabbinic Council of Progressive Rabbis that there is a diversity of religious views on the issue of same-sex marriage, including support for reform, and that the Australian Christian Lobby is not representative of all religious viewpoints (Statements included below).
Alex Greenwich, the National Convenor of Australian Marriage Equality, said:
“The statements made today by these two faith groups show that marriage equality is gaining support from across the spectrum of faith and cultural backgrounds.”
“The growing support from religious groups is reflected in a Galaxy poll conducted in August 2011 that found 53% of Australian Christians support marriage equality.”
“This debate should not be characterised as ‘God vs Gays’, but instead in terms of the real human impact that the denial of civil marriage has on same-sex couples and their families.”
“These statements also point to the growing awareness among religious groups that should the law change to allow marriage equality, no minister of religion will be forced to marry a same-sex couple if they don’t want to.”
The statement by the Victorian Council of Churches can be found here:
http://vcc.org.au/Media%20Release%20ACL.pdf
The statement by the Rabbinic Council of Progressive Rabbis can be found here:
https://www.australianmarriageequality.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Marriage-Equality-Statement-December-2011.pdf
Galaxy Poll from August 2011 highlighting Christians Support for Same-Sex Marriage can be found here:
https://www.australianmarriageequality.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/marriagereligion.pdf
A fact-sheet on the Galaxy poll can be found here:
https://www.australianmarriageequality.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Christiansupport.pdf
For more information contact Alex Greenwich on 0421 316 335.