Sydney goes Gaga for equality
Calls by international pop sensation Lady Gaga for Australia to legalise same-sex marriage have added a silver lining to a disappointing week in the fight for marriage equality.
On Sunday, the NSW state ALP Conference failed to endorse full marriage rights for same-sex couples.
However, the following night, two surpise performances by Gaga at Nevermind and ARQ, and an appearance on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair put the issue firmly in the public spotlight.
Photos: CLICK HERE
“It’s 2011, get on with it,” Gaga told ACA host Tracy Grimshaw.
“I urge all of you to mobilise your voices so the prime minister can hear you scream that you want to be equal.”
A motion passed at the state ALP conference, introduced by NSW Labor general secretary Sam Dastyari and seconded by openly lesbian MLC Penny Sharpe, merely referred debate on the issue to the party’s National Conference in December.
Sharpe acknowledged it was not the motion she had wanted, telling the Star Observer it had been agreed between “a number of players in the debate on the basis of it going through”.
“The motion I would have liked to have seen would have been one that did more than refer the issue,” Sharpe said. “We weren’t able to get that but we were able to get a free vote at national conference and it’s game on from there.”
The motion was supported by both opponents and supporters of same-sex marriage, but speakers who identified themselves as supporters of marriage equality vastly outnumbered those who identified themselves as opponents and received far more applause from the conference floor.
Joining Dastyari and Sharpe in identifying themselves as supporters of marriage equality were federal ministers Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek and Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes.
None spoke against the motion.
According to media reports, the ALP’s hard right faction applied pressure for the referral to avoid a vote on the issue at the state conference.
Only two speakers identified themselves as opponents of marriage equality — federal Robertson MP Deborah O’Neill, and federal Fowler MP Chris Hayes. Both indicated their opposition was rooted in faith.
Australian Marriage Equality national convenor Alex Greenwich said he hoped the setback could be transformed into a call for action ahead of the ALP’s National Conference.
“We know a clear majority of ALP voters, state conferences, and state leaders support reform, but this NSW setback proves the battle is far from over,” Greenwich said.
You May Also Like
Hi there I am so excited I found your site, I really found you by error, while I
was browsing on Bing for something else, Nonetheless I
am here now and would just like to say thanks a
lot for a remarkable post and a all round thrilling blog (I also
love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read
through it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also
added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to
read more, Please do keep up the awesome work.
[…] SunLady Gaga gets eggs thrown at her as she leaves a club in Sydney after night …Daily MailSydney Star Observer -International Business Times -Pedestrian TVall 1,015 news articles » […]
Agree Michael- when in doubt, just vote Greens, until equality is achieved!! Even if you don’t believe in any of thier other policies, just keep voting Green till we get equality, then you can always switch back to Labor later on.
Labor’s Right, & the PM, needs to be smashed with a sledgehammer on this issue.
Once we get equality, it’s like a shaken up can of soft drink with the lid open- they won’t take it back- no more than anyone would try to take back the right of Aborignees to vote, or to marry whites. Other Greens policies you may not agree with to do with taxes or whatever can always be repealed- but equal rights once granted rarely get repealed. Keep voting Green!
[…] Sydney goes Gaga for equalitySydney Star ObserverCalls by international pop sensation Lady Gaga for Australia to legalise same-sex marriage have added a silver lining to a disappointing week in the fight for marriage equality. On Sunday, the NSW state ALP Conference failed to endorse full marriage …Feast of Lady Gaga for chosen few Little MonstersThe Daily TelegraphGaga a go-go in gay old night on the townSydney Morning HeraldLady Gaga prepares for the main eventHerald SunThe Sun -Ninemsn -Daily Mailall 947 news articles » Posted: July 12th, 2011 Categories: Uncategorized Tags: Comments: No Comments. Write a comment Name: […]
Many in the NSW ALP sold a message of delivering same sex equality to their constituents while strategically stealing LGBTQ votes from the Greens and progressive Independents. Now we see they have no power at all within their own party, which has no progressive plan of action at all. I was not surprised that the NSW ALP was gagged from expressing a collective opinion on same sex marriage, and I will not be surprised when the National ALP fails to make it policy in December. Same sex equality is an average of 16 years behind the UK, meaning we cannot realistically expect any form of civil union before 2019. While we’re waiting, we can all go Gaga! Gaga will you perform at my same sex marriage even though we’ll be in our fifties???