You Voted and Love WON! But fair and equal Marriage Equality is not law yet…

Australian’s are resoundingly in favour of Marriage Equality! We know, this isn’t a surprise amongst our friends, but now Malcolm Turnbull and the government have to pull their figurative socks up and listen. Off the back of the announcement, the Coalition are meeting to discuss marriage equality and the PM has promised a bill should be passed by Christmas! However, whilst this bill is the best opportunity Australia has had for marriage equality, opponents are trying to introduce amendments that could allow for discrimination.

We couldn’t agree more with Malcolm Turnbull “They voted yes for fairness, yes for commitment, yes for love. And now it is up to us here in the parliament of Australia to get on with it, to get on with the job the Australian people asked us to do and get this done.” Go Austalia! 

We’re not talking about Destiny’s Child, we mean the marriage equality legislation we need to make marriage equality fair, just and legal. The situation is changing quickly but the good news is that Liberal senator Dean Smith’s bill to change the definition of marriage was successfully introduced in the Senate on the day of the Yes win. This marks an important first step and will make a significant change to the wording of the Marriage Act 1961, redefining marriage as  “The union of a man and a woman” to  “The union of two people”.  Simple, right?

Unfortunately, it gets more complicated. The bill also includes clauses that give religious organisations an exemption to refuse to conduct same-sex marriages. These organisations will continue to be able to refuse to make facilities available or to provide goods and services for a marriage ceremony. “Religious marriage celebrants” can also refuse to conduct a marriage ceremony if it is contrary to their religious beliefs.

While these exemptions have been accepted by the majority of the Yes campaign, opponents of are now trying to broaden these exemptions, suggesting they should also apply to non-religious celebrants and even broader protections that would protect businesses in general. One Senator has also suggested that he wants to guarantee the right of parents to opt their children out of school classes that conflicted with their values. We need to remind our representatives that the Australian public has spoken and we want fair and just marriage equality, with very few exceptions. 

The debate on marriage equality within parliament has already begun in the Senate. However, the House of Representatives, who also need to pass the bill, does not sit until November 27.  Time will be tight to get this bill passed in 2017 as the final day that either the Reps or Senate sits this year is December 7 – so Australia we need to get this done asap!