GAY COUPLES “BETRAYED” BY PARLIAMENT BUT ADVOCATES STILL OPTIMISTIC / STATES TO LEAD WAY ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY
In the wake of today’s vote against marriage equality in the Senate, marriage equality advocates say gay Australians and their families will feel betrayed, but they remain buoyant about the future of the issue.
The Senate has voted against marriage equality 41 to 26, following yesterday’s vote by the House of Representatives 98 to 42.
Australian Marriage Equality National Convener, Rodney Croome, said,
“Many same-sex couples and our families will feel despondent, angry and betrayed that federal parliament has said our relationships are not worthy of equal recognition and respect.”
“But I take heart from the fact that the last time the Senate voted on marriage equality in 2009 only six Senators voted in favour and today that number has increased four-fold.”
“If the Coalition had allowed a conscience vote the Senate outcome would have much closer and we thank Queensland Coalition Senator Sue Boyce for blazing a trail for other Coalition members by speaking in favour of reform.”
“It is a victory for the grassroots supporters marriage equality that we have come this far, and we now need our political supporters to join forces and work together to get this through parliament.”
“With the majority of Australians behind marriage equality I am confident momentum for reform will continue to grow as attention now shifts to the states.”
Next week the Tasmanian Upper House will vote on a State Government Same-Sex Marriage Bill, while the NSW Premier, Barry O’Farrell, has granted the NSW Liberal Government a conscience vote on the issue.
“Opponents of marriage equality in federal parliament may think they have knocked the issue on the head, but all they have really done is given the states a mandate to act, and spurred on marriage equality supporters to work even harder to achieve a reform that the majority of Australians want.”
Mr Croome rejected out of hand a proposal by North Queensland MP, Warren Entsch, for a national civil scheme.
“Civil unions entrench discrimination rather than removing it, are a step away from marriage equality rather than a step toward it, and are a sop to homophobia rather than a solution to it.”
“We acknowledge Mr Entsch’s heart is in the right place but we reject his proposal out of hand.”
For more information contact Rodney Croome on 0409 010 668. For television interviews in Canberra contact Ivan Hinton on 0419 124 826.