Marriage equality advocates have responded to Opposition leader, Tony Abbott’s, unequivocal rejection of civil unions by urging supporters of gay rights like Opposition communications spokesperson, Malcolm Turnbull, to focus on marriage equality.
At the sixth annual Michael Kirby address on the Gold Coast last night, Mr Turnbull, demolished the case against same-sex marriage but then endorsed civil unions as the way forward.
This morning Mr Abbott responded by ruling out both same-sex marriage and civil unions.
Australian Marriage Equality national convener, Alex Greenwich, said,
“People like Malcolm Turnbull who want to progress this issue should focus on building momentum for marriage equality rather than pursuing civil unions, which have failed internationally and will satisfy no-one in Australia.”
“Why would the federal parliament legislate for something that the rest of the world is moving on from, when the alternative is a historic reform that will benefit tens of thousands of Australians?”
Mr Greenwich said the international experience shows that civil unions are not an adequate substitute for marriage equality with the former increasingly rejected as “a failed experiment”.
“The international experience also shows that marriage equality is much easier to achieve when there is strong leadership from political leaders.”
“We urge Malcolm Turnbull to show this leadership.”
For more information contact Alex Greenwich on 0421 316 335.