Marriage Equality

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

The current debate about the concept of marriage is one about which many people have strong views. In forming my own view on this issue, I have been informed by the many stories shared with me as well as the values I hold.

Marriage is both a deeply personal and deeply social institution. It is both a commitment offered by the couple to each other, and a means by which the value and dignity of a couple’s love is formally recognised by their community. In both cases, it is a symbol of loving union between two people.

One of the most important and enduring values of Australian society is its respect for difference, based on the inalienable dignity of any person. That dignity, equal amongst people, persists regardless of race, colour, creed, gender, sexuality or any other arbitrary distinction we might make. We recognise this dignity by allowing all people to have equal opportunity to realise their dreams and equal access to community life: in cultural expression, in work and in the kind of ambitions people are able to pursue.

However, the legal definition of marriage, as it stands, denies same-sex couples, gays and lesbians the dignity that Australian values would rightly accord them. It continues to say that the love between two people of the same gender is not worthy of the same recognition we grant a relationship between a heterosexual couple. We continue to deny the dignity of gay and lesbian couples, and the dignity of their love. I believe it is discriminatory, and incompatible with the expectations of an equal society.

The Australian Labor Party has a strong record on removing legal discrimination against same-sex couples, and I am proud that at the Party’s most recent National Conference, our policy platform was amended to support equal access for couples to marry, no matter their sexuality. The Party also supported a conscience vote on the issue, and should any legislation on this issue come before the Senate, I will vote to support marriage equality.

Like all laws and norms, marriage has changed as society has changed. I believe that the time is right for Australia to leave behind discrimination in marriage as we have in so many other ways, and embrace marriage equality.