One of Australia’s most prominent conservative commentators has shifted from opposing to supporting marriage equality.
On last night’s edition of the popular panel discussion program, Q&A, Janet Albrechtsen said she is “okay” with marriage equality, partly crediting her daughters with her change of mind,
“…in the past I’ve wondered whether the word ‘marriage’ needed to be taken by homosexual and lesbians but I’m okay with that now, that’s okay.”
“I have two teenage daughters so this is a big subject in our household. And I’ve noticed how, for teenagers, there are a lot of issues where there is disagreement among them….But on gay marriage it’s almost uniform acceptance of gay marriage. And I think that’s a really positive thing because I actually think it’s going to happen and I’m actually coming around to that view.”
This contrasts to several years ago when Ms Albrechtsen was a strong opponent of marriage equality and a defender of the Howard Government’s ban on the recognition of same-sex marriages.
Australian Marriage Equality national convener, Rodney Croome, welcomed Ms Albrechtsen’s change of heart, saying it echoes a broader shift among socially-conservative Australians.
“More right-of-centre Australians are endorsing marriage equality because they see that allowing same-sex couples to marry can foster the values they hold dear, values like fidelity, monogamy and personal responsibility.”
“Janet Albrechstsen’s shift is a timely reminder to Tony Abbott and the Coalition that marriage equality is not necessarily a left-wing issue.”
In a 2003 article titled “Why gay marriage is a bad idea”, Ms Albrechtsen wrote,
“The results of our social experiment with divorce and laissez-faire marriage are in: children do better on every score when reared by their biological mother and father. This is why marriage must remain special and why discrimination is not always a dirty word. That we have already defined down marriage is no reason to define it down further. Gays are entitled to legal recognition of their relationships. Just call it something other than marriage.”
In a 2004 article titled “No hatred in keeping marriage laws sacred, she wrote,
“The conservative case for gay marriage is that it will not undermine traditional marriage; if anything it will enhance it by showing the innate desire of people, gay and straight, to enter into a deeper, state-sanctioned form of commitment. But that hypothesis has been tested in Scandinavia and found wanting….A decade or so of legal gay marriage has done nothing to make marriage stronger. Indeed, sanctioning gay marriage has only served to send the message that all family forms are equal, increasing the trend to out-of-wedlock births and cohabitation.”
For more information contact Rodney Croome on 0409 010 668