Politicians Are Playing Games With the Lives of Australia’s LGBT Community
Same-sex marriage in Australia has just been dealt a significant blow.
But first, here’s what you need to know about same-sex marriage Down Under.
The vast majority (older polls say 64%, more recent ones say 70%) of Australians support same-sex marriage, including 53% of Christians.
The majority of lawmakers in the Australian Parliament support same-sex marriage.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (photo) will not allow lawmakers to vote on marriage equality until a national referendum – sending voters to the polls to register their opinions – is held.
That vote would cost $162 million (about $122 million in U.S. dollars) and would be non-binding, meaning even if voters chose marriage equality, nothing would change, and lawmakers would not be bound by the results of the plebiscite.
Turnbull also will not allow lawmakers a “free vote” or a conscience vote, meaning they can only vote as their party dictates. When he became Prime Minister, Turnbull promised a national vote on marriage would be one of his government’s first orders of business. Now Turnbull says it won’t happen until at least next year.
So here’s what just happened: yet another Australian political party just announced that while it supports the right of same-sex couples to marry, it opposes a national referendum on the rights of LGBT people.
Human rights should never be subjected to a popular vote.
Last month one poll found only one in four Australians support the idea of a national referendum on marriage when they were told the facts: that it would cost $162 million and it would not be binding on lawmakers. Also last month, seven Members of Parliament who opposed same-sex marriage lost their seats, allowing LGBT equality groups to show just how strong the public feels about marriage equality.
A national referendum would not only be expensive, it would be divisive. And studies show when civil rights are put up to a public vote, they are far less-likely to pass.
So clearly, the majority of Australians want equality, but one person in particular, Australia’s conservative Prime Minister, refuses to allow it.
Politicians, again, playing with the lives of LGBT people.
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Image by Knowledge Society via Flickr and a CC license