Barack Obama’s support for marriage equality highlights the fact that Australia is now the only developed, English-speaking democracy where the leaders of both major parties oppose the issue.
Same-sex marriage has the support of David Cameron and Ed Miliband in the UK, John Key and David Shearer in New Zealand, the leaders of both opposition parties in Ireland, and just about everyone in Canada where it has been legal for almost a decade.
Australia’s backwardness on the issue is not a reflection on its people, with polls showing there is the same or higher support here than in the countries I’ve mentioned.
Rodney Croome AM is the campaign director of Australian Marriage Equality.