Bandt marriage motion passes!
Greens member for Melbourne Adam Bandt’s motion calling on members of parliament to gage their constituents views on same-sex marriage has been passed by the House of Representatives in a vote of 73 to 72.
The motion read, “this House calls on all parliamentarians, consistent with their duties as representatives, to gauge their constituents’ views on ways to achieve equal treatment for same-sex couples, including marriage”.
At this stage it appears that no Coalition MPs supported the motion.
The motion was supported by the independents Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Andrew Wilkie. Wilkie had already seconded the motion on Monday.
At around 10.50pm Bandt tweeted, “Our marriage equality motion just got passed in parliament! A step closer to full equality. Well done to all supporters of equal love.”
You May Also Like
“gauge their constituents’ views on ways to achieve equal treatment for same-sex couples, including marriage”. What about equal treatment for other sexual orientations? My view: ‘Equal treatment means no sex outside heterosexual marriage’. So, no abortion, no paedophilia, no casual sex, no prostitution, no pornography, no adultary, no incest, and oh yes, by the the way, no sodomy. Any adult man and woman who publicly commit to a heterosexual and exclusive marriage, have the states consent and protection for intimate sexual relations according to there private wishes. This may or may not include fertility control
Equal treatment applies to children too. My view: Every child has a right to a live-in mother and a live-in father who are committed to the emotional, social, spiritual, mental and physical welfare of each other and of each child, as demonstrated by a SOLE and LIFELONG marriage commitment.
Why is equal treatment so important? If we are to build a nation where the weak (emotionally or otherwise) are protected, we require clear state support and enforcement of celebacy outside marriage and fidelity inside it. Consistently.
Can we please have this discussed when the Labor/Greens Alliance gets the nation back into surplus. I don’t think that parliamentary printing and travel allowances should be spent canvassing this issue when 25% of the parents at my child’s school are leaving at the end of the year because of a $400.00 increase in fees.
This Christmas they are thinking about where on earth they are going to find the money to pay rent, or find a rental that will suffice for their family.
Its all about priorities and the Greens/Labor have shown theirs. Surplus and fiscal responsibility are not very high up.
The union between gays must have a different title because it is a different relationship. It is a relationship that cannot reproduce offspring and so it is in no way closely related to the contract of a marriage between a man and woman.
I don’t understand why the gay lobby group is so paranoid about the title of marriage when they can never fulfill the contract it naturally delivers; the reproduction of people!
They gays must have a different name for their partnership title.
Lucien- Advocating against the Greens on moral grounds in other posts as they support Same-Sex Marriage, attacking people who have been gay bashed? Attacking people for supporting those who have been bashed. I think I see a pattern here Lucien.
Tom,
No words can convey the outrage that people feel when they hear of homophobic attacks in the workplace. It is a sick feeling we all get. You and your partner should be treated better not just in your workplace, but by local members of parliament. Homophobia can have a devastating impact. When such crimes go without justice we all suffer as a society. I hope your love for each other can be a great strength through this difficult time. We go through good weather and bad weather together. I hope in time you both find some peace about all this as difficult as it is at the moment.
This is a time when you realise what is really important in your life. I know you must be angry but do not let it dominate your life, or they will win. Hold each other and be strong. Look at all you have and be proud. You have obviously put up a good fight.
Regards,
Dave
Dave Thankyou for recognising my letter.Our abusers were the powerfull media group News Ltd.The people who set the news agenda for our political debate.My experiance in their workplace recognised by Q
Tom,
I am really sorry to hear about your trouble. I hope you get some publicity and things get better.
Cheers,
Dave
Getting access to equal marriage, & getting rid of government-sponsored discrimination/homophobia, will then automatically start to allieviate situations such as experienced by Tom in the comment above.
But at the momement, thugs feel that if Julia the PM can be homophobic, then why shouldn’t they attack these “2nd class citizens” & “put them in thier place”.
The Aborigines suffered similar “Abo jokes” & voilence, back when they were government-sponsored 2nd class citizens.
Through your paper I would like to publicly as my local MP Wayne Swan why he ignored my pleas for help when my partner and I were attacked in my workplace. The attacks included threats with firearms,our car trashed in company car park,homophobic reports written by my employers to workcover.My union demanded an independent enquiry.Qld police recognising the homophobic nature of the attack.Thirty four years of proud work history destroyed in this three month attack.
Mr Swan I am in your electorate and am willing to talk with you.Marriage is well down my list
Lucien,
In case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard, I have bad news for you.
Labor actually won the election, or put more precisely, the Liberals/Nationals lost.
Labor with the Greens and Independants have more representation in the Parliament than the coalition.
This is why we’re starting to see progressive policy. It’s the will of the people.
Here is a list.
This is a growing list of Labor MPs who have spoken out publicly (against their party’s wishes) in support of same-sex marriage:
Mark Arbib
Stephen Jones
Kirsten Livermore
Melissa Parke
Unfortunately, we have only heard silence from inner Sydney Labor MPs, Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese, and Peter Garret. These MPs don’t think the issue is worthy enough.
The Greens got 14% of the vote at the last Federal election. 1 of 150 MPs in the House and 10 0f 76 senators from July 1 2011. Still along way off being able to impose their will, legally and morally, on the whole nation!!!
Makes me laugh how people go on about how the church says this the church says that..Well lets have a look, We have a PM who is living in sin then. Why not put all the taxes that gay people pay into a seperate fund and use the money on the gay community. They are happy to take my taxes but not happy to stand up for my rights. I am sure they will come up with another excuse of why we can not have a civil union. At least the Greens are not affraid to stand up for the rights of others. The other parties are just worried they would loose votes.
Let me tell you about the sanctity of marriage in the real world of mainstream society. Getting a divorce is easier than getting married. The hearing of a divorce application takes less than 3 minutes. Divorces are heard in “lists”, which comprise about between 15 and 20 divorce applications per hour. It is managed like a production line. As for the punters, their reasons for wanting out are many and varied, often being the case it should never have happened in the first place. Those anti gay marriage campaigners always ignore the fact that this so-caled sactimonious institution is often treated as something disposable. I would have though that widening the group of people who can access marriage would actually strengthen the institution, if what someone else does in their relationship is relevant to yours.
Cont…
7. Gays can’t get married because it would detract from the sanctity of marriage
You guessed it
This is a brilliant peice of deconstruction from reader “Kate” in response to a ferral ABC article from Murray Campbell yesterday:
Still all the arguments against marriage boil down to the usual:
1. Gays can’t get married because they can’t have children
Ah, sorry, this is WRONG (on two counts).
(a) Actually, gays can, and do have children. [I know! Shocking, isn’t it??]
(b) Unless infertile, post-menopausal and child-averse straight people are also banned from marrying, this one doesn’t make much sense.
2. Gays can’t get married because they SHOULDN’T have children
Also WRONG: All reputable studies show that it is the quality of parenting, and not the gender or orientation, which counts.
3. Gays shouldn’t get married because God says so
WRONG: Marriage is a civil, not religious contract. No-one is trying to force churches to marry gays. It works perfectly well in Europe.
4. Gays can’t get married because marriage has always been between a man and a woman and you can’t just change that.
WRONG again. Marriage has had various definitions and purposes over the years. It used to be a contract between the parents. It used to be between people of the same race only. Definitions evolve and change.
5. Gays can’t get married because I just don’t like it.
WRONG (you’re not doing too well here, are you?) My right to marry has nothing to do with your right not to feel uncomfortable. Some people don’t like the fact that women now have equal legal rights with men. Tough. My human rights are not dependent on your comfort level.
6. Gays can’t get married because then people would marry children, or pets
Wow, STILL wrong! Marriage is a voluntary contract between two consenting adults. When your dog can sign his name, get back to me.
7. Gays can’t get married because it would detract from the sanctity of marriage
You guessed it
All of you should write to your Federal MP and your State MP while you are at it. Let them know what you feel and how it effects you!
Thank you Greens!
It is appalling that the Liberal party voted, lock-step, against this motion, which only calls on MPs to listen to their constituents’ views on the issue of same-sex relationships. Even Malcolm Turnbull voted against the motion – queer voters in Wentworth might like to note that.