GAY marriage will not go away. The reason is simple: most Australians accept being gay as a fact of life – a matter of innate identity and biology. Only a minority holds to the old prejudice that homosexuality is unnatural, thus justifying discrimination. That was Greens MP Adam Bandt’s point in moving last November that MPs consult their electorates.
MPs reported back yesterday. Unsurprisingly, their reports largely accorded with their own views. Most Australians do not need MPs’ unreliable findings to know that many claims about gay marriage are as ridiculous as they are out of touch with contemporary norms. Coalition politicians Bob Katter and Barnaby Joyce drew cheers at last week’s anti-gay-marriage rally in Canberra, but their views are those of a minority.
The high anxiety about the issue may have something to do with a decline in religious observancy. Only one in six Australians are regular churchgoers and they may feel their beliefs are under siege. Still, their success in influencing both Labor and the Coalition to retain the last bastion of state discrimination against gay people is remarkable. Opinion polls show 60 per cent or more support for same-sex marriage.
Click here for gay wedding resources in Australia.
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