In his inauguration speech this year, US President Barack Obama likened gay and lesbian equality to the civil rights movements for women and black people.
While it’s a risk-free sentiment from a second-term president, it is an entirely accurate comparison.
And in an election year it’s worth noting Prime Minister Julia Gillard refuses to support marriage equality and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is even more dogmatically opposed, despite his sister being a lesbian.
Recently you might have noticed people in your social media networks changing their profile pictures to an image of a red box with two parallel pink lines.
The Red Equal Sign is the emblem of the Human Rights Campaign, the biggest civil rights advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender Americans. It coincides with the US Supreme Court debating the validity of California’s Proposition 8 and the 1996 Defence of Marriage Act; two cases that could shape the rights of gay people in America.
The first, a voter-passed amendment, sought to overturn a 2001 High Court ruling that allowed same-sex couples in California to marry. It was passed in 2008, overturned by a Federal judge soon after and has been fighting for legal recognition in the courts ever since.
The second, the Defence of Marriage Act, is not dissimilar to a 2004 amendment to the Australian Marriage Act of 1961, passed during John Howard’s time as prime minister, which defines marriage exclusively as the union of a man and woman.
Both are patently discriminatory but where does this leave Australia? Remember, these aren’t convicted criminals who forfeit certain privileges of civilised society. We’re talking about people who contribute across all strata of our community.
The typical arguments against marriage equality bear cursory examination.
It threatens the sanctity of marriage. The Australian Bureau of Statistics found the institution fails nearly half the time so said sanctity has long been overrated.
Think of the children. There are 40,000 kids with parents in same-sex marriages in California and the American Sociological Association and the American Academy of Paediatrics says they fare just as well as those raised by opposite-sex couples.
The 2011 Census found there were 6120 children in same-sex households in Australia. Far more damage is being done to this group by withholding equality from their guardians than by granting it.
If we debase ourselves further by turning this into a moral issue, explain the morality of a government that recognises same-sex de facto relationships to the point Centrelink can suspend benefits but yet prohibits marriage?
Since Norway legalised same-sex marriage in 2001, 10 countries have done so, including Canada, Spain and South Africa and it’s legal in parts of the US, Mexico and Brazil.
Make no mistake, marriage equality will happen in Australia.
And history will damn everyone who actively opposed it.
Yes, de facto gay and lesbian couples in WA have similar legal rights as married couples.
But similar is not equal and until all Australians are treated equally by law, none of us is truly innocent of bigotry.
Author: Ben O’Shea
Publication: The West Australian
Publication Date: April 2, 2013