A long way from tolerated to welcome
This long weekend just passed The Australian featured a story on Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s sister, Christine Forster, being an out lesbian.
I feel this article is a microcosm of the relationships that lesbians and gay men all over Australia have with their families: that we have come to expect no more in terms of equality than to be able to attend a family barbeque.
Ms Forster says that Mr Abbott his wife and their kids have “warmly welcomed” Ms Forster’s partner into their family — but have they?
How can you welcome someone as a second-class citizen? Is it not absolutely hypocritical to on one hand say you greet someone as an equal, while saying on the other hand that you do not believe they deserve the same rights you enjoy?
This situation no doubt reflects what’s happening in many of our own families. If the approval rates for marriage equality sit only at approximately 60 percent, this must be the attitude that many people with gay or lesbian family members take. With increasing numbers of gay and lesbian people coming out of the closet, it would be very unlikely that the remaining 40 percent of Australians could say they do not know any lesbians or gay men.
There is a long way from tolerated to welcome. Tony Abbott may have accepted his sister’s partner, but he has not welcomed her.
Even though Mr Abbott and his sister disagree on marriage equality, despite her attempts to change his mind, the Opposition leader should be extending a conscience vote to all members of the Coalition. For the many Coalition members who have gay siblings, children, relatives and friends, he should offer those MPs the opportunity to support marriage equality.
He must extend the opportunity to vote accordingly to those MPs who do not wish to class their children’s or siblings’ relationships as less than their own, and who want to show that they are loving and respectful to all their family members.
To those gay men and lesbians whose families do not feel like Mr Abbott, you must encourage your families to speak up and become part of the marriage equality debate. There are many federal MPs across the country, on all sides of politics, who need to see that this is an issue that matters to their constituents.
The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby will hold an information evening on April 18 for everyone who wants to get more actively involved in the fight for marriage equality.
If you are interested in this issue, please visit our website for more details — http://glrl.org.au/index.php/Take-Action/Current-Campaigns/Calling-all-defenders-of-equality
By LAINIE ARNOLD, NSW GLRL
