Rally for civil unions
Close to a hundred people attended a rally in Canberra on Saturday in support of the ACT Greens’ Civil Partnerships Amendment Bill, which will be put to a vote on Wednesday.
Both the Greens and the Stanhope Labor Government support the bill, which will allow same-sex couples an official ceremony when they enter into a civil union.
However, the Federal Government can veto the bill once it passes into law. It blocked a previous version of the civil unions law in April 2008 because it included ceremonies, leading to a compromise bill without ceremonies being passed the following month.
The rally began at 1pm in Garema Place in Civic, with protesters then marching to the ACT’s Legislative Assembly.
Speakers from the Equal Love campaign and the National Union of Students addressed the crowd.
“If the Rudd Government chose to override this bill, it would constitute an insult to the rights of many loving couples in the ACT, and a contravention of the ACT Government’s right to legislate for equality,” Equal Love Canberra spokesman John Kloprogge told Sydney Star Observer.
“Today’s successful rally for civil union ceremonies demonstrated the depth of feeling on this issue in the ACT. The community has demanded that we take this step toward equality and respect for all loving couples.”
ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury, who introduced the bill, told the crowd a veto would be resisted by supporters of equality in the Federal Parliament.
“We are pushing for this bill not just because the voters want it, but because it’s the right thing to do. And we will take it right through to the very end,” Rattenbury said.
Supportive people of faith were represented at the rally by Jonathan Benyei, who spoke in favour of the bill on behalf of the Quaker community in the ACT.
Quakers have been performing religious same-sex marriages in Australia since 2007. In August this year Canberra Quakers wrote to the Government to ask that the Marriage Act be reformed to include same-sex couples.
If Kevin Rudd does veto the ACT law just recently passed – I will completely veto my support for him because quite frankly “he is running on very thin ice” when it comes to support from gay men and lesbians who did vote for him in November 2007 and I and millions of other gays will defiantly take vote in November 2010 to the Greens! Back in 2007 I did support Kevin Rudd taking on and challenging John Howard on family law, transport road linkages, regional development, Government grants and agricultural reforms that Howard neglected in the 11 years in office.
Last time I looked at us as Australians, we take our pride very seriously and are a proud secular society in 2009. Kevin Rudd has got no guts or balls to talk openly and positively on gay marriage and have his views but he has no right to have a say that is bigoted in a strong democracy where 60 percent support gay marriages – however he has NO RIGHT to shove those bigoted “union of a man and woman marriage views” down everyone’s throats like a deep throat at a sleaze ball party. He is like a show-pony that “pretends” to recognize his integrity – but his own credibility is lacking and wasted away up shit creek without a paddle!
The only marriage Kevin Rudd “the dud” should be concentrating on is his own marriage with that stupid fat bitch – and not be a show-puppet bigot of the Australian Christian Lobby (someone had to say it)! But then again Kevin Rudd will probably get caught by the police when he is in the middle of have sex in a Sydney Airport toilet cubical with another male and say that he is not gay – just like US Senator Larry Craig did back in 2007!
I rest my case.
Independent Gay Activist Paul Mitchell.
The bill was passed in the ACT today. It’s not marriage, it’s not recognised federally, but it’s a step in the right direction. However, don’t pop your champagne corks yet. There’s a danger that Kev the Hev, defender of the “sanctity of marriage” (What IS that?) will shove them back in the bottle.