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Australia: PM Gillard the Only Labor Leader Opposed to Marriage Equality

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

JULIA Gillard will defy a push by Left faction powerbrokers for a formal position on gay marriage by backing calls to offer MPs a conscience vote.

The Prime Minister is now the only Labor leader in Australia opposed to gay marriage, with Queensland’s Anna Bligh, NSW’s John Robertson, Tasmania’s Lara Giddings, Victoria’s Daniel Andrews and the ACT’s Katy Gallagher supporting change.

Senior ministers are declaring their support for gay marriage as the ALP prepares to back a free vote on same-sex marriage laws.

Full Story from The Daily Telegraph

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Tags: australia, julia gillard, labor, marriage equality

Australia: Is Gillard Ready for a Reversal on Marriage Equality Vote?

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

JULIA Gillard is set for a reversal on gay marriage, with government sources claiming she would announce within weeks a conscience vote on the issue. Government sources said the Prime Minister would state her position ahead of the Labor Party’s national conference in December.

It could come as early as Monday or after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth finishes at the end of next week.

Left wing and some Right-wing MPs who are delegates to the Labor conference will push for a reversal of the party’s platform, which currently opposes gay marriage. If approved, a path would be cleared for Ms Gillard to call for a conscience vote on the issue in parliament.

Full Story from the Telegraph

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Tags: australia, conscience vote, julia gillard, marriage equality

Australia: Will Gillard Announce Marriage Equality Conscience Vote Soon?

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

A senior Labor Party source says Prime Minister Julia Gillard will announce an ALP conscience vote on same-sex marriage early next week.

The move is happening because Gillard knows she’d lose a vote on the issue at the upcoming Labor Party Annual Conference, so she’s keen to pre-empt that debate, the anonymous but trusted politico has told the Sydney Star Observer. The source said he believed any conscience vote would occur following the December conference rather than beforehand.

Australian Marriage Equality spokesperson Rodney Croome says if the announcement occurs it will be an admission by Prime Minister that her opposition to marriage equality is no longer politically tenable, and will embolden supporters of equality to achieve a binding policy in favour of marriage equality at the ALP’s National Conference in December.

Full Story from Same Same

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Tags: australia, conscience vote, julia gillard, marriage equality

Australia: Marriage Equality Protest in Melbourne Targets Gillard

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

More than 100 protesters are targeting a Melbourne function attended by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, condemning the government’s stance on same-sex marriage and asylum seekers.

Carl Katter, the gay half-brother of federal independent MP Bob Katter, has addressed protesters outside a hotel in Melbourne’s CBD where Ms Gillard is to address the University of Melbourne’s AsiaLink conference.

Protesters from Equal Love Victoria and the Refugee Action Collective have joined forces to condemn Ms Gillard over her policies regarding asylum seekers and the federal government’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Full Story from smh.com.au

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Tags: Gay Marriage, julia gillard, melbourne, protest

Australia: Gillard Meets With Marriage Equality Advocates

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

On the eve of MPs reporting back to the Parliament on their constituents views on same-sex marriage, marriage equality advocates have met Prime Minister Julia Gillard to put their case for reform.

At Parliament House on Tuesday night, Gillard met with a range of advocates for reform to hear their views and to answer their questions about her opposition to the issue.

It was the first time an Australian Prime Minister has formally met with advocates for marriage equality.

Full Story from the Star Observer

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Tags: advocates, julia gillard, marriage equality, meeting

Australia: Is Gillard’s Opposition to Marriage Equality Genuine?

Friday, August 19th, 2011

So where does the Australian public stand on gay marriage? The question floated about last week, as the Howard government’s Marriage Act, affirming the exclusively heterosexual nature of the institution, reached an itchy seven years. And those who know precisely where they stand put their convictions on colourful display and invited the public to make a choice. Given compromise isn’t possible on this issue – you can’t be a little married, just as you can’t be a little bit pregnant – whose camp would you rather be in?

The equal love rally in Melbourne last Saturday featured drag queens, placards outing Bert and Ernie, and several speeches, including one from the National Union of Students’ ”Queer Officer”. On Tuesday in Canberra, a protest by the National Marriage Coalition heard from an American conservative commentator who warned that gay marriage was the thin edge of a wedge leading to the legitimisation of polygamy and paedophilia, from federal independent Bob Katter who lamented the lost innocence of the word ”gay” and from Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce who said his four daughters would be affected if same-sex marriage was allowed.

”We know that the best protection for those girls is that they get themselves into a secure relationship with a loving husband and I want that to happen for them,” Joyce said. ”I don’t want any legislator to take that right away from me.”

Full Story from smh.com.au

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Tags: australia, Gay Marriage, julia gillard

Australia: PM Gillard Blocks Aussies From Marrying in New York

Saturday, July 9th, 2011

The Gillard Government is blocking the marriages of gay Australians in New York. When New York state’s new equal marriage law takes effect on July 27th same-sex couples from other countries will be able to marry there if they provide a Certificate of Non-Impediment to Marriage (CNI) to show they are not already married in their home country.

But the Australian Government refuses to give such certificates to same-sex couples intending to marry overseas, a policy defended by Julia Gillard as recently as the 14th of June, 2011.

Australian Marriage Equality National Convener, Alex Greenwich, called the policy petty and mean-spirited.

Full Story from AME

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Tags: australia, Gay Marriage, julia gillard, new york

Australia: Labor Tells Gillard to Support Marriage Equality

Monday, June 20th, 2011

JULIA Gillard is under increasing pressure to legalise gay marriage after the Queensland Labor state conference yesterday overwhelmingly passed a motion for federal Labor to introduce equal rights for “all adult couples” who wish to formalise their union.

Premier Anna Bligh backed the move, with Queensland Labor joining counterparts in South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory in voting to demand support for gay marriage at the ALP national conference in December.

Hardened unionists from the Right joined with the Left to pass the motion in a carefully stage-managed two-day conference that largely avoided controversial local issues, ahead of the state election, due by early next year.

Full Story from The Australian

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Tags: australia, julia gillard, labor, queensland

Australia: Gillard Won’t Block Discussion of Marriage Equality At Party Conference

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Although she still maintains her opposition to gay marriage Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said she will not rule out its discussion at the Labor National Conference in December.

“My view is clear and my view won’t change,” she told The Australian newspaper last week.

“But I also think that it’s fair to the participants in national conference to let people come along and have a discussion about the issues they want to have a discussion about.”

Full Story from MCV

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Tags: australia, conference, Gay Marriage, julia gillard

Australia: Julia Gillard’s Conservative Upbringing Shaped Anti Marriage Equality Views

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard revealed yesterday that her personal stance against gay marriage was due to her conservative upbringing. Ms Gillard said she was “on the conservative side” of the gay marriage issue “because of the way our society is and how we got here”.

“I think that there are some important things from our past that need to continue to be part of our present and part of our future,” she said. “If I was in a different walk of life, if I’d continued in the law and was partner of a law firm now, I would express the same view, that I think for our culture, for our heritage, the Marriage Act and marriage being between a man and a woman has a special status.

“Now, I know people might look at me and think that’s something that they wouldn’t necessarily expect me to say, but that is what I believe.

Full Story from the Daily Telegraph

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Tags: australia, Gay Marriage, julia gillard, prime minister