No Gay Marriage: Australian Senate and House of Representatives votes are in.

Good for you.

I don't know how the Marriage legislation was framed in the Australia so this may not have much bearing but speaking from a US POV in a state where an amendment to the state constitution banning Gay marriage is on the ballot this year consider this. A law allowing gay marriage isn't actually an endorsement of gay marriage. If gay marriage is allowed doesn't mean that they are mandated, that anyone should go out and get one or that churches have to recognize them. Religious institutions are still free to not perform gay marriage ceremonies and refuse to recognize them. The idea that legally allowing gay marriages impinges on religious freedom is about the same as saying that since it is legal to eat pork that impinges on the religious freedom of Muslims and Jews. If your religion commands you to not do certain things then don't do them. What you shouldn't expect though is for the rest of society to conform to your religious dictates. That is an argument that I have seen frequently brought up about Muslims and by that logic then that should also apply to other religious views regarding things like marriage.

Allowing for gay marriage is about providing equal protection under the law. I don't know about Australia but I suspect that like the US Constitution they also have a similar law. As long as the government is providing state sanction then it needs to do so under equal protection.

To head off the inevitable "government should get of marriage" in principle I agree but there is a reason why marriage is an institution and as noted in another thread the Republican platform itself calls for promoting traditional marriage through marriage laws. THere is no serious or practical effort to get government out of the marriage business.

I have stated this before but if we are going to have civil unions then they need to be applied to all. Preserving marriage only for heterosexuals while civil unions for homosexuals is a separate and equal standard and in the US that practice has been specifically rejected by the USSC. I myself am fine with civil unions but that has to be applied to all marriages in the eyes of the law.

When you ask what it has to do with you, well it doesn't have anything to do with you personally whether two gays get a civil union or a marriage. That is the point of allowing gay marriage. It isn't that you have to like or accept gays. It is about getting out of the way of equal protection and treatment under the law.

 

I guess what Izak is saying is that he has evolved

good on ya mate

 

people are abandoning their hardline anti-gay marriage stance in droves. i've heard maybe a half dozen people in the last few months admit that they no longer have a problem with gay marriage. there seems to be an unprecedented shift going on in america at the moment. it is so inspiring to see the inevitable change in our culture happening right before our eyes. intolerance is losing, and soon the anti-equality crowd will be just a small, annoying group of easily recognizable bigots.

 

That's usually how this stuff goes. The anti-[insert civil rights movement here] crowd gets louder and louder and louder and then all the sudden... poof. The bubble bursts and it's like no one held that position at all. The build-up for the anti-homosexual rights crowd had been going on for a while, and it all seemed to come to a head with Obama's endorsement and the Chik-Fil-A kerfluffle. I'm guessing that was the last vestiges of a dying sentiment.

 

professional sports is also slowly turning. the NFL has the 49ers and Ravens making their support known, as well as some individual players who aren't afraid of speaking their minds. more will join them.

the NBA put out an anti homophobia campaign last year. albeit through a cheesy "don't say that's Gay" reminder.

MLB still has some work with their good old boy mentality and cultural differences. recently, Yunel Escobar from the Blue Jays ignorantly wrote "tu ere maricon" on his eye black and was suspended for three games.

(why would a player choose to display that in public?)

let's see if there is a positive backlash from the league or other players from this.

 

It's a joke. Often times conservative Christians who are anti-gay believe there's a "gay agenda" to turn other people gay or to disrespect religion etc.

The sign has been used elsewhere, it's just a gay person saying that the "gay agenda" is actually just wanting what other people have.

 

seriously? Lol forget about "unions" people, you had your chance. It's 2012, & every country needs to start recognizing gay marriages & more to the root of the problem, educate! Now that starts in the schools of course, but it's not enough (the root of the problem is their parents)- it might actually be helpful to have a type of selection pool, like jury duty, where they are court ordered to attend a wedding a few times a year, so they can see that their little bigoted worlds aren't going to come crashing down around them if everyone gets some of the same equal rights.

It's high time everyone start showing some REAL RESPECT to the LGB&T community.

 

There are only two things I like about Austrailia; Koalas and Hillsong.

 

Speaking of Australia I had a weird dream that I was selling insurance to the late Michael Hutchene lead singer of INXS while riding a double decker bus.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E9WtgZkg6Gg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Yes.

Signed,
everyone on earth

 

good for Australia

sexual preference isn't a reason to change a country's laws