“We don’t have to do everything immediately.” Marriage equality is important but not as important as the Budget.
That was the message Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivered earlier today about marriage equality, the subject that, thanks in part to Ireland’s historic referendum last weekend, is gathering considerable momentum here in Australia.
On Friday a group of almost 50 companies took out a full page newspaper advertisement declaring their support for same sex marriage. On the weekend 1500 people gathered in Sydney at a rally to voice their demand for equality. Today Bill Shorten introduced a Marriage Equality bill in parliament, and over the weekend it was reported that Warren Entsch is considering offering bi-partisan support.
And why wouldn’t he? A Liberal poll suggests that more than 70% of Australians support same sex marriage which is higher than it was in Ireland, where the referendum was won with a 62% majority.
Yet despite the broad appeal we still can’t eradicate this discrimination from our laws. Why? Because there is reluctance among the gatekeepers. The gatekeepers are not yet convinced so citizens who want this change are required to wait patiently until they change their minds. Over the past week or so we have heard various iterations of the counter arguments from the gatekeepers.
“It will only be valid if it’s supported by the whole of parliament” That being true, perhaps you could make that happen?
“It is political opportunism to bring this debate on now” The referendum in Ireland was outside the scope of Australia’s domestic politics. If one of the more staunchly religious nations in the world is willing to dismantle this bastion of inequality, is that not a valid indicator that it’s worth considering here? As a matter of some urgency?
“It can’t be advanced until it’s clear that churches will not be discriminated against in any legislation” So Churches are ok with discriminating but less ok with being discriminated against?
“Let’s see where the community lies on this” 70% support seems quite convincing wouldn’t you say?
“Not everything needs to happen immediately” When exactly do you have in mind? There’s a considerable portion of the population who quite legitimately believe that the time for ending this systemic discrimination was yesterday. At the very least would you mind articulating the grounds upon which you are stalling?
The subtext of the various arguments is clear. We are hesitant about this change. We are hesitant about offering all Australians equality. We are hesitant about rushing. Until we resolve our hesitation we will tell you who you can marry and when you can marry them. We are setting the terms.
I am hopeful that alongside these public counter arguments the various gatekeepers are asking themselves a few private questions too.
Who am I to stop someone else from getting married? Why is that I believe my sexual orientation deserves “more” equality than someone else’s? How would my own marriage or relationship be affected by the marriage of a same-sex couple? If my son or daughter were to fall in love with someone of the same sex how would I feel about them being denied access to marriage? To what extent does this formal discrimination around marriage facilitate the ongoing discrimination of gay and lesbian Australians? What am I so afraid of?
From the past week alone there are countless passionate, powerful and persuasive cases being mounted for marriage equality. I sincerely hope that the gatekeepers – in and out of public life – are reading them.
I sincerely hope they recognise that each day they delay this decision is a day where they are putting a fellow Australian on a pedestal below themselves. That each time they say “this can wait” and “let’s not rush” they are saying another person’s inequality isn’t as important as their own equality. It is. To paraphrase Martin Luther King, inequality anywhere is a threat to equality everywhere.
It is time not simply for marriage equality but for leadership on equality. It is time for leaders to stop telling Australians the various reasons it can’t happen and start telling us how it will happen. It’s time for leaders to recognise that marriage equality is the symbolic tip of an important iceberg. The tip where Australia says – unconditionally – that no person’s rights are defined or determined by their sexual orientation. It is time to make all Australians equal.