Gillard says no to marriage
In what will come as disappointing news to many in the gay and lesbian community, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has ruled out supporting gay marriage.
In her first public word on the issue, Gillard said she does not support changing the current ban in a radio interview this morning.
“We believe the Marriage Act is appropriate in its current form, that is recognising that marriage is between a man and a woman, but we have as a Government taken steps to equalise treatment for gay couples,” Gillard told Austereo.
Questioned further, Gillard said it was also her personal view that gay couples should not marry.
“During a chance second encounter in Baltimore in 1945, Henry Schalizki, 88, and Bob Davis, 89, met and fell in love. More than six decades later, the couple finally legalized their union.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/24/AR2010062406743.html
So glad they were able to finally get married. Just as well they don’t live in this glbt backwater when it comes to marriage equality..
Julia is so Kath and Kim…how could she possibly be anything but pro gay marriage?
But then again Tony Abbott is so Ausssiebum poster boy how could he possibly be anti gay marriage?
Then again who really cares,both of them are a disgrace to G+L rights..we have always lagged behind in years with G+L reform…so my best guess is gay marriage in Australia 2020?…mm maybe 2030?
Well thats only ten or twenty years to wait till you want to get married.Not too bad a wait is it?
At least it leaves lots of time to plan the venue and guest list.
DaveW, but what happens if the christians and conservatives come out in force and elect Tony Abbott as PM? We definately won’t be getting same sex marriage then. And it will also get pushed down off the agenda from the ALP if they lost over it. I don’t care about what the general public thinks of me. All I care is that I get my rights like everyone else. the conservatives can then go hang because it’ll be a non-issue.
The following articles published today and yesterday:
“Australia lags shamefully on gay marriage ”
http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/australia-lags-shamefully-on-gay-marriage-20100701-zqia.html
“The PM had a choice on marriage. Why not gays?”
http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/the-pm-had-a-choice-on-marriage-why-not-gays-20100630-zmax.html
There seems to be a lot of anger directed at labor and liberal in these comments. All fair enough. Just remember when you’re voting that you have to NUMBER EVERY BOX. Otherwise your vote is invalid. So, much as you might hate labor or Liberal, you have to decide which is worse and number them accordingly.
I’m voting 1 Green, 2 Socialist Alliance (if they run), 3 Democrats (if they run), 4 Labor, 5 Liberal and 6 any other homophobic or racist party that decides to run.
“do you really want an election fought on the issue of gay marriage?”
Hell yea! For once, we should give the Greens the maximum votes & maximum balance of power & GET THIS THING DONE- get full equal rights. Then if we don’t like the Greens other various policies in the future for whatever reason, we can always go back to voting Labor in the future after this gets done.
Ask the Aborigines whether they thought it was important making a point to win the right to vote, or to be able to access interracial marriage. We are like the Aboriginal adults who were treated like “kids”- who were not allowed to vote. We are legally classified as 2nd class citizens, legaly classified as “kids” who cannot marry. Yet we pay 1st class taxes!
All we want is access to CIVIL MARRIAGE at a government Registry Office (the fact that some churches ALSO want to marry us already [but are currently barred from doing do] is a bonus).
Well I guess we can say there is no policy of Labors to end any discrimination against us. They are not going to the polls on it, and so the many areas of discrimination will stand still for the next four years.
That is four long years of your life with nothing. Zip. In four years time we can revisit Labor and see if they will give us Federal Equal Opportunity Protection.
We will be dealing with a Swan Government by then after another Labor Right backstabbing. Until then, I like others will vote Green.
Ben has is correct. If this election is fought over same sex marriage, Abbott would win because there are still plenty of ALP voters who don’t support gay marriage. Let her win, let the Greens get the balance of power in the Senate, and then we can get the laws changed and no-one will be able to do anything about it. Just like the changes passed this term are no longer discussed, let it be one of those things in the middle of next term.
With one interview Gillard has just guaranteed that the seats of Melbourne, Sydney and Grayndler will swing to the Greens.
FFS the woman had come out as atheist 24 hours earlier – maybe she just wasn’t ready to vacate the job yet?
EQUAL RIGHTS!
Im voting green. Shove it Gillard.
Get a grip bloggers – do you really want an election fought on the issue of gay marriage?!
Gillard is a political animal, any whimsical thoughts of an epiphany down the track remain whimsical. If she supports gay marriage it will only because the polls reckon its a good idea. If you’re looking for honesty, integrity and guts, then look elsewhere – and probably well out of the political arena.
The labor party stooges have their bit between their teeth on this one.
Julia Gillard’s public position on same sex marriage is that she will not support it, but;
What she is really saying in code is that if all the gay people vote for her she will change her position on same sex marriage if she wins one or more Federal elections.
Only a labor party script writer could dream up that humbug and only the labor party’s faithfull supporters could swallow it.
Don’t vote for people who hate you and discriminate against you.
I agree with Dave and I can understand his anger. Julia Gillard is seeking to deny us our existence in many areas such as aged care. She is not promising to do anything more to end discrimination if she wins office. Julia is not promising Civil Unions, she is promising to do nothing for us during her term of government.
It is not just about Civil Unions or Gay Marriage, there are so many areas that Labor still discriminates.
I am voting Green.
Hardly surprising, so close to an election.
Sure, it’s controversial legislation. But is this really “a vote loser” when the overwhelming majority of Australians support same-sex marriage? I realise it wouldn’t be a winner with the Christian right, but aren’t they in the minority in contemporary Australia?
I’m not posing rhetorical questions, by the way. I really want to know.
Anyone?
Dylan I believe if Julia were to go to this election supporting gay marriage then she will probably lose the election and we will end up with abbot as pm! The only way gay marriage or civil unions will happen is if Julia is elected and she slowly builds community consensus on the issue which I believe she will
Firstly, I had hoped that we would be able to work towards same-sex marriage and that Julia Gillard’s previous statements on this issue were something she had just said to go along with Kevin Rudd while he was the boss.
Now it appears that Ms Gillard intends to discriminate against same-sex couples. She does not even have the excuse of religious beliefs (bad excuse though it is) to “justify” this discrimination. So yes, I will be voting Green and encourage all other gay people to do so. Full equality with marriage is the right of all same-sex couples!
With Abbott on the brink of victory, it’s no surprise Julia Gillard taking a safe option.
After the election, I support civil union legislation like the UK or New Zealand.
(and Dave, your remarks are chauvinistic and unpleasant)
Well Andrew where else can put the bitch. Trevor in the photo migrated from England also. I was with him in the morning before he met her, he had high hopes but she just wanted the photo opportunity.
Also, she’s Welsh.
Dave, while I disagree with Julia’s stance, telling her to “go back to England with her hate” is rather hate-filled in itself. I’m a migrant and this kind of talk is ridiculous.
Rather than waiting on her to change her vote after winning a couple of elections why don’t you vote Green now. That way your preferences will end up flowing to her anyway but you’re sending the message that you’d rather support The Greens policies.
Maybe if people start doing that and emailing her to let her know why they’re no longer planning to vote for her we may see her opinion change sooner?
I know Trevor and Peter well. They should have allowed the babies to shit on her face like she is shitting on ours. When Gillard tells us her government has ended discrimination in many areas, it is Labor Party code for saying I will give you nothing for the future but discrimination. Go back to England with your hate.
Gillard sounds like a vibrator low on a battery. The monotonous tone of her voice had promise but delivered nothing.
The Greens are the only Party trying to end all discrimination against us.
I agree with you, Chris. I think right now Gillard’s focused on the need to win the federal election, thereby keeping Abbott out of the Lodge. She’s playing it safe – witness that barely noticeable Cabinet reshuffle.
Just to add to that, if her views do not miraculously change after a couple of elections then I will definitely start voting green.
It is a bit disappointing but not surprising. Unfortunately the issue is a vote loser not a vote winner and Julia is very pragmatic. I would expect that if Gillard wins a couple of elections and has a majority in the senate you will see her views miraculously change on a number of social issues including gay marriage. I still love her.
This is rubbish! Just when we all thought there was a breath of fresh air in Australian politics, another spanner has been thrown into the works of equality …