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A Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby survey showing almost 80 percent of respondents believed in same-sex marriage rights has spurred on the organisers of a range of protest acts this weekend.
Activists and equal relationships rights campaigners are planning two Sydney events to mark the one-year anniversary of the federal same-sex marriage ban on Saturday. Other organisations are planning events in other cities (see information box).
The Victorian survey asked 652 gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex respondents what sort of relationship recognition they wanted, what sort of parenting options they would like available to them and their feelings about discrimination.
Two-thirds of the respondents were women, and three-quarters were currently in a same-sex relationship. Almost 41 percent had children or planned to have children in the future.
Of the respondents, 98 percent supported legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Of these, 45 percent said they wanted to be able to get married, and 37 percent said they wanted domestic partnership recognition.
Organisers of Sydney’s Relationship Equality Rally have called for a national lobby campaign for same-sex marriage rights.
Rally organiser Rachel Evans from Community Action Against Homophobia said the survey results showed it was time to fight for full marriage rights.
We want full recognition of our relationships, Evans said. We want the full gamut of choice, civil union and de facto rights and also the right to choose whether we marry. In 2005 anything less than equality is just not acceptable.
Greens MP Lee Rhiannon called on new premier Morris Iemma’s government to sponsor a similar community survey in NSW.
Meantime, a survey in the US found mainstream support for same-sex marriage rights was at an all-time high. About a third of people surveyed by the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press said they supported same-sex marriage, and 53 percent said they supported equal legal rights for same-sex couples, 365gay.com reported.
