Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday said his government's position on same-sex marriage remained unchanged despite moves within his centre-left Labor Party to have the ban overturned.
PM Kevin Rudd
His comments come as same-sex marriage supporters have planned a 7-city rally on Aug 1 with the focus being in Sydney where the Labor Party’s national conference begins on Thursday.
"We are consistent with the policy we took to the last election," Rudd told public broadcaster ABC on Wednesday. Rudd, who defeated John Howard in the 2007 election, had said then that he supported the former conservative government's legal definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
This week, the Labor Party in the state of Tasmania voted for the Marriage Act to be amended to allow for same-sex unions.
"I fully respect the integrity of other same-sex relationships ... but in terms of the policy, it's a matter to which we have been committed for some time," said Rudd who endorses a national "relationships register" provided it did not "mimic" marriage or undermine existing laws.
"I fully accept it's a matter of controversy, and there'll be debate, and there should be. This is an open society where we can debate and discuss these matters."
Rudd said his government had moved rapidly to remove the "other discriminations" in national law against same-sex couples in areas such as pensions, tax and employment.
A survey conducted for Australian Marriage Equality found 60 per cent of Australians were in favour of same-sex marriage. The poll of 1,100 respondents found that women were more likely to support gay marriage, with 65 per cent of them in favour compared with 51 per cent of men. Support for gay marriage was strongest among Australians aged 16 to 24, with 74 per cent in favour, compared with 45 per cent for those aged over 50.
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Reader's Comments
DON'T GIVE UP YET AUSTRALIA!!!
News from Albania; the government is set to pass gay marriage laws there. Imagine, Albania more progressive than Australia.
On the other side of the coin marriage carries many legal rights and responsibilities and I think you will find that all Australian states and the Commonwealth now recognise those rights and responsibilities through their laws relating to defacto relationships.
What more do you want?... A piece of paper will not hold a relationship together unless there is a common goal
Rudd, you're an idiot if you think we can't see you're position on this issue is a defensive vote strategy relating to your Christian voters. How about we vote on your human rights and see how you like it.
Give me my rights now!!!
http://gaylife.about.com/od/samesexmarriage/f/civilmarriage.htm
PS: Will we ever come to day if such discrimination were condoned that it'll be illegal for any handicap person to get married. I won't be but still surprise me ya? ;P
On the other hand, marriage is not just a piece of paper; it's a deep, personal commitment - whether or not it works out, or whether You respect it, or your partner does, are entirely different things - and it's something I very much believe in, and respect.
I'd definitely like to get married; to commit to someone, if it felt right for both of us (the age-old dilemma!). So, I really resent someone telling me that, no, I can't get married, that everyone is equal in front of the law - but some are more (or less) equal than others.
I mean, if I was an abuser, a murderer, a paedophile, a violent heroin addict, a thief, an ambezzler, a Whatever, I would still have every right in the world to get married. But, just because I'm not heterosexual, I can't. That's not fair, right or just - and it's certainly not treating me like an equal citizen - and That's why many gay men and women are angry.
As such, this seems like a Rudd-y poor decision to make in Australia, even though, despite all it's happy-laid-back image that it promotes, the Ozzie government is still seen as a bunch of right-wing hardballers, and one that I'm sure the locals won't accept quietly. Good luck to them...
i dated this guy for about 2m. its all great at all levels until he started to mention 'marriage'. then he escalated to wanting a 3 carats diamond ring for the 'wedding'. so i had to u turn because the mind is a bit twisted... i think. we both cried. i kept telling him that i am whole heartedly committed to the relationship but not the 'marriage' thingy, its just that its not something i do or even think about it.
But...
I'm still single....
Should find a life partner first!!!
lol.
That is the problem with the situation. No one is proposing to force you to marry the boy you met last weekend.
"We are being led to treat same sex committed relationships in the same way as opposite sex marriages, reaffirming our central insight that marriage is the Lord’s work and we are but witnesses. The question of legal recognition by the state is secondary."
No matter how, regardless of whatever religious purpose, marriage is still celebrated across the world as ultimately, the symbol of love & commitment. People who believes in no beliefs still get married, because they understand it brings one's relationship into a whole new level.
And how could fighting for our rights - for something so fundamental, so beautiful & celebrated - be an obsession? We are talking about rights here, not a craze.
Still if some of you insist, I wouldn't mind going 'obsessed' to fight for this right every human being should deserve.
So my answer to those of my friends and strangers . . who ask "So why do u gays need gay right?
This is why. And we are not just asking for gay rights. We asking for equal rights. Human rights!
The str8 fundamentalists with a dash of conservative religious extremism, do NOT and will NOT see & treat gay people as EQUAL human beings despite knowing that all men are CREATED EQUAL.
When an equation is NOT equal to even begin with, how can there ever be a summation? Unless one accept Standard Deviation and perform the usual creative accounting to balance the books. ;)
That's why powerful positive role model like, Ellen Degeneres, who show the world what a kind and big heart she has with her generous charities and care giving to worthy causes (regardless of gender orientation) will slowly chip away public resistance. It takes time but eventually it will happen one day. But it's a heavy task for her alone. More need to show similarly through community causes across board instead just appealing to LGBT projects like HIV/AIDS.
The world is motivated by fear-based paradigms fed by government and media dictatorial structures designed to keep the masses under control and manipulation. Until such hold is broken by constant fighting by our LGBT kin to advance our causes, things will regress almost by default.
go together like a horse and carriage..."
- the lyrics of a song written in the US when the word gay used to mean bright, cheerful, without care...
it now seems to be the mantra for some gay (current meaning or meanings) folk, even in some countries which already have the legal equivalent of marriage in terms of civil unions or partnerships for same-sex partners.
to these latter who keep harping on about their human rights - just grow up!
marriage, whether religiously based or merely legal and secular, has for centuries, if not millennia, been a heterosexual institution by definition, having its roots in a male-female union.
yet, i do hear what Lokies is saying (com 27). hey, there are so many ways to celebrate true and deep love in the presence of friends or otherwise, but in the end what matters is that, that love is truly real, exclusive (faithful), and lasts no less than a lifetime - isn't that the point? duh? :)
anyway, whatever one's religious, political, or philosophical stand universally, this issue eventually boils down to a matter of law, and the complex religious, cultural, political and legal tapestries of each individual country. i don't at all presume to have the same say as an Australian in Canberra, or a Canadian in Ottawa, and similarly i don't expect any western gay activist to tell me what i should support in my south-east Asian country - which, in this case, is legally-robust civil partnerships for ANY two people, gay, bi, straight, or otherwise.
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A BAN.
SINGAPORE HAD A BAN ON 'IMMORAL' CASINOS FOR YEARS - UNTIL THE PROFITS CAME CALLING.
WE'RE BUILDING TWO HUGE ONES IN SENTOSA AND MARINA BAY NOW. LOL.
Freedom and equal were rights denied us for centuries, and for religious and control reasons. Interesting to note how "sensible" non gay groups get when there is money involved. Marriott was world famous for denying equal rights until they were sold on the concept that fags had loads of money. The myth of gay dollars miraculesly allowed that about face... So when as a group take time to educate, and threaten to boycott or unseat these unthinking persons, they to will be shown as the hookers they are "Gay for pay".
You will be surprised as I to see the numbers of gay marriages with children emerge! Out church which fought this through is a fine example of freedom and the after effects when our own people start to realize the benefit and the joys!!!
Keep up the good fight in your country... It WILL mean countless deaths of youth, and countless happier singles and couples in our aging community.
For information adn a boost... check out www.mcctoronto.com sunday 11 am webcast at 11 est... and be transfomed. This is our Right and our obligation to the inner self!
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