ALP rebukes MP over marriage
A senior Labor backbencher, who last week claimed same-sex marriage supporters in his party should join the Australian Greens, was formally censured by his own party last night.
The Lidcombe branch in the NSW electorate of Reid last night passed a motion in favour of marriage equality and called on MP John Murphy to acknowledge that he did not speak to the branch and his views are not representative of his electorate.
The Star Observer understands the motion was debated and passed while Murphy was present at the meeting.
The motion follows comments by Labor branch president in the Reid electorate Gina Wilson who said she was “appalled” by Murphy’s comments and lack of representation.
Wilson said last week she knew beyond a doubt that Murphy had sought neither the views of voters or ALP members in Reid, which includes the inner west suburbs of Concord, Strathfield, Burwood, Five Dock, Abbotsford and Drummoyne as well as Lidcombe and Auburn.
“There are many GLBTI people in the electorate of Reid and I know that he hasn’t broadly canvassed the electorate to find out what support there is or isn’t,” Wilson said.
“There has been absolutely no canvassing of ALP members in Reid on this. This is John Murphy’s off the cuff personal opinion and its devastating and insulting.”
Australian Marriage Equality (AM) convenor Alex Greenwich congratulated grass-roots ALP members in Reid for their courage in standing up for Labor values like equality and fairness.
“Labor Party members in John Murphy’s electorate are much closer to both the core values of the party and to mainstream opinion than Mr Murphy himself,” Mr Greenwich said.
“Polls show only 36 percent of people in Reid oppose same-sex marriages, while 74 percent of Labor voters support it nationally.
“The passing of this motion shows that the grassroots members of ALP will no longer put up with being mis-represented by those they elect. This message is especially timely ahead of the August 24 report back and the December National ALP Conference”
As well as telling ALP same-sex marriage supporters to join the Green, Murphy said the issue should be put to a referendum because he thought it would be lost.
Greens Senator Hanson-Young pointed out to Murphy that a referendum on the issue would be a waste of taxpayers money when all recent opinion polls had shown majority support on the issue.
“There is no constitutional change required to amend the Marriage Act, merely a legislative change, so an enormously expensive and cumbersome referendum isn’t needed,” Hanson-Young said.
“The community can have its voice heard in the Parliament if MPs and Senators are given a free vote and the freedom to vote for what their community wants, not their party bosses.”
“The Greens have long advocated MPs and senators having a conscience vote on this vital matter of allowing consenting adults to marry whomever they love, and again call on the leaders of the ALP and Coalition to allow it.”
Sorry to disappoint you but I’m not Iain Hall as you seem to have decided. I am afraid there is more than one person named Iain who doesn’t agree with your thoughts on homosexuality… I wonder if I will get censored by the editor again simply because I am writing something that his readers don’t agree with? i.e that I am not this Iain Hall bloke.
Owen then in face of what you have provided, I have to ask why do you hate gay people?
Iain Hall,
Now I finally know who you are and have done a little research.
From your ravings on WorldPress I see you think more about gay sex then any GLBTI person I know.
Your World Press blog is full of hate. I think that hating of homosexuality for you represents other things that are wrong in your life. Some people end up hating people of a different skin colour, some hate Muslims, others the rich, with you I see it is homosexuality. You form conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory, in an attempt to ridicule a group of people in the community you do not know. You use the religion, the “I am better then you lot” as baseball bat to bash people. For Godwins all the time with that. But when I turn the cards, pose that you are a sinner and Godwins for me, then your response is interesting.
You are certainly a bitter man angry at the way life has turned out for you. You might not think you have amounted to much, but life is what you make of it my friend. You can spend your life being bitter and twisted, and you will find that hate will drain you and destroy you. It will deform who you really can be. I am struggling about if I should respond to your mad outburst, they are full of hate, or just cut and paste text explaining a bit about you so others may never bother with you. You are making things difficult for yourself to be taken seriously. You now resort to going to GLBTI news websites to abuse and ridicule people, as you are not getting satisfaction with your blog. There is no ending your thirst for hate, your wanting to destroy the lives of others you do not know.
I have not yet given up hope on you. Yes you do make me cross at times, but I still see some good in you, even though others are giving up, or not responding to you altogether.
I hope you have a great weekend, and smell the roses a bit. When my father died of cancer, he would of given anything to be in your body, and be able to just live. Carrying out acts of hate against others would of been the last thing on his mind. Appreciate what you actually have and you might help cure some of that bitterness you show the world.
To the editor: In his last post, Dave explained why your point is irrelevant. Just as not all straight men are rapists; not all heterosexual parents didn’t plan their children. If a variable does not represent at least the majority of the demographic and is similarly not a direct derivative of that demographic, then it is irrelevant. Regardless, the question that one raises with homosexual parenting is not with ‘ability’ as it has been termed; rather it is to do with the environment that is created within such a household derived from the lack of the natural complimentary heterosexual parenting abilities, and the effect that this may have on a child. This is similar to the concern for children in single parent families; however the difference being that this is an arrangement that is rarely entered into voluntarily.
Ed: I was clearly not saying that all heterosexuals have unplanned children or even most. What I said was that same-sex couples cannot not have children without planning for them. Surely we can all agree that children do best in environments where they have been planned for by parents who love each other? Children do not only find gender role models in their parents, they also find them in their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, teachers, their parents’ friends and the parents of their friends. Please name anything else that a mother can provide that a father cannot (other than milk) or a father can provide that a mother cannot without appealing to sexist gender stereotypes. If marriage is primarily about raising children please tell me why society has never banned rapists and murderers and other serious category violent offenders who have proved they are not fit parents beyond a shadow of a doubt from marrying?
Dave, thats why I dont agree with alternative arrangements, it will only confuse the child. This is not only a moral but a safety issue.
Owen be nice to people and not so abusive.
Your slur on good people is based on one person! My sister was raped by a straight married Anglican Minister. Does that make all straight men rapist? Of course not. Does that make all people of religion bad people, no it does not. Go call Anglicare or some of the many Church groups that advertise for us to take children.
I am sure your a better person then you are making yourself out to be! Any of the parents I know straight or gay would be disgusted at thought of what happened to your friend.
Good Post Jack Alison!
“friends in and out of the house at any given time, and its a bit rude but some used to “do it” on the sofa and the spare room.”
And you don’t think that can happen in a household where the people doing it are heterosexual, Owen?
They’re just bad parents and their sexuality is not the reason.
(SSO: Sometimes these captcha images are almost impossible to decipher. I had to reload 7 times to get this comment through.)
Y r these illiterate wingnut xtians on this website???
Like are they jerkin off while reading every post that calls their Craziness 4 wot it is? I mean there is NO logic 2 any of @Ian’s arguments except it’s all ‘nonsense.’
To all the regular posts on this site, you’re looking at a group such as fundamentalist xtians that have nowhere 2 go anymore.
In the US the xtian right is asking some soul searching questions b/c they’ve milked the gay card so much its turned back on them. B/c of the overt sustained bigotry from Prez Reagan onwards LBGT ppl. have never had so much publicity. However, it’s worked against the xtian right, NOT 4 them.The same is slowly happening here. Ppl are starting 2 c thru the lies and c the bigotry and hate 4 wot it really is.
The Cloyne inquiry in the Irish Republic has left the church completely gutted, with the secular government bringing in tough laws against coverups of sustained child sexual abuse that was complicit from top officials in the vatican. The vatican has withdrawn its ambassador.Remember these are the very same ppl who preach family values and adam and eve.
Firstly, Dave, show respect for other commenters ok! now, a dear friend of mine grew up with two mothers, in the same house lived the biological father and his boyfriend and their circle of both gay and straight friends in and out of the house at any given time, and its a bit rude but some used to “do it” on the sofa and the spare room. All this while a child was being brought up in the house. She grew up doing a lot of soul searching, suffered depression and one night when she came to dinner at my parents house felt so secure and told us she “craved normality”
Ronson Dalby
Good on you. I was going to have children, but after watching a Same-Sex couple I know have children, and the massive work they put into raising them, I decided not to.
It takes a special person to be a parent straight or gay!
Iain Hall,
Did you even bother to read the first link? It was commissioned by Canadian government and produced by the Canadian Justice Department. I don’t see how your claim (“It goes without saying that the only people with any inclination to conduct such ‘research’ are biased in their opinion.”) stands up.
“Of course your children think it’s normal to grow up with a homosexual parent; they don’t know any different.”
Yep, my children were forcibly isolated from society & home-schooled (kidding) so they never had any contact with other children and their families by way of neighbours, schoolmates, birthday parties, sleepovers, Scouts, softball & swimming teams and all the other things that are the basis of a child’s world.
Iain abuses people then blames them for his abuse. My observation is he is not a Christian at all, and indeed a Whore of Babylon. For how could he ever get into the Kingdom of Heaven, if, as we are told, it is full of loving people. Iain shows us his Evil, making up stories about people to further his agenda of hateful homophobia. The constant theme is no facts, and slurs on good and decent people. It is the same as racism. Irrational arguments and a river of hate. I have no doubt he will burn for eternity for his sins against other Christians and non-Christians. Evil is Evil and I see it before me when I read his post. He is a man of great sin.
Perhaps he could learn from a great Christian who said.
“To penalise someone because of their sexual orientation is like what used to happen to us; to be penalised for something which we could do nothing [about] — our ethnicity, our race. I would find it quite unacceptable to condemn, persecute a minority that has already been persecuted.” Nobel Peace Prize winner and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
There might be hope for Iain, but he must repent for his crimes against GLBTI people, for his constant vilification and hate rants, until then, there is a part of Hell that awaits him.
My Anglican Bishop said people like Ian offer the destruction of Christianity. They are fundamentalist who would clearly have no place in heaven, I tend to agree.
A heart filled with anger and hate is simply not allowed into Heaven.
To claim that there are non biased, credible sources regarding the suitability of homosexual parenting is nonsense. It goes without saying that the only people with any inclination to conduct such ‘research’ are biased in their opinion. Such research contains so many variables that one can reach any conclusion they want. i.e One can blame the higher levels of drug use within the homosexual community, among other things, on the lifestyle itself or upon the blanket scapegoat ‘homophobia’. Take your choice…
Screaming abuse at everyone that holds a differing opinion to your own whilst claiming you’re the victim is rather pathetic. Having an opinion is not evil; it’s just one of our rapidly diminishing freedoms. Only those who know they cannot overcome with any form of logical argument resort to such behaviour.
Ronson, any article that suggests that homosexual parents are better than the standard is obviously nonsense. One may as well publish an article suggesting that single parenting is better. I can’t believe there are people who actually fall for that rubbish. Of course your children think it’s normal to grow up with a homosexual parent; they don’t know any different. Ask a twin what it’s like to grow up as a twin…
Owen, I totally agree with you. How about putting the children first for a change. Anyone with any understanding of history will know that once a society begins to dabble with selfish pursuits such as homosexuality and androgyny, it is heading down a slippery slope.
Ed: Iain you say “any article that suggests that homosexual parents are better than the standard is obviously nonsense” – Have you considered the factor that because of the difficulty and often costs associated with same-sex couples adopting or having children through surrogate and other arrangements, virtually all children in homes headed by same-sex couples are there because they were both planned for and wanted?
Owen,
I have children in their late teens and early 20s. I was, and still am, an at-home father to them all. They are happy, well-adjusted and successful in school, occupations and romantic relationships.
They would laugh at your ‘what about the children’ comment.
“Study: Same-sex couples just as good, if not better, at parenting”
http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=38cc20ce-7f14-44ea-b4d9-d4cd16d7a269&k=9378
“Children raised by gay couples show good progress through school”
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/august/gay-study-083010.html
Plenty more of those from non-biased sources if you look around.
Owen. Love that old logic, of “what about the kids”? Funny that all the studies show no long term harm.
Which is why, across North America… the American Academy of Pediatrics,the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association,the National Association of Social Workers, the Child Welfare League of America, the North American Council on Adoptable Children and the Canadian Psychological Association… all soundly agree that it’s not a problem.
As for “impressionable”? What, do you imagine these kids might grow up gay? Funny that, ‘cos both my parents are straight, and I grew up queer. Guess I wasn’t an impressionable kid…
Owen you are a total tool!
Owen when mugs like you who resort to child abuse accusations you have lost the argument.
There are so many Gay Dad’s and Mum’s that do a terrific job that even Christian groups advertise in this paper for us to foster difficult children.