Gay Marriage in Australia

By Slothful Snorlax

Get your shit together, Australia. It’s shameful to say that we are one of the last few developed countries to legalise gay marriage. Undoubtedly, the support for same-sex marriage is ever-growing and it is evident now more than ever that something must be done. Despite this, the current liberal government refuses to change legislation and consequently restricts the rights of 10% of the Australian population.

So even with this obvious ongoing backing, why haven’t we done anything about same-sex marriage? In the following I will identify some common arguments in the case against gay marriage and tell you, the reader why they are completely inapplicable in today’s society.

1.       “It’s not natural”: First things first, what the hell does natural mean? Because, in reality can we really consider marriage itself natural? “The natural world didn’t create marriage, humans did” (Lipp, 2013). The argument suggests that those who oppose gay marriage do not see gay marriage as unnatural; it goes to show that they think that homosexuality in itself is.

2.       “But… religion”: Many argue that same-sex marriage is a religious institution and goes against the Bible’s definition of marriage. This is completely incorrect. Marriage is very much secular, controlled by our governments, thus religion should play no role. Heck, even atheists get married.

3.       “Procreation though”: Humans are at the top of the food chain, and there is an exponentially growing 7 billion. We certainly are not cavemen, where the survival and continuation of the human species relies on reproduction. Marriage is not only about having children. What about marriage for the love, friendship and companionship? If marriage was only about procreation, we might as well discontinue the marriage between older couples who are no longer able to bear children, or stop marriage between other heterosexual couples who don’t want to have children.

Tony Abbott has continued to assert his ideals of what a traditional marriage should be – exclusively between a man and a woman. In his own words: “There is no doubt that homosexuality challenges, If you like, orthodox notions of the right order of things”. Tony Abbott, the prime minister, a man responsible for reflecting Australia’s views, a man whose sister is gay, insinuates that homosexuality is unnatural and goes against ‘the right order of things’. No wonder gay marriage hasn’t been legalised.

Australia prides itself on its highly successful democracy, our freedom of speech, our majority rule. The growing support for gay marriage, 67% and increasing as the younger generations are better educated and are more accepting of our diverse community, is indicative of an inevitable change in legislation. The question is when? How much longer must we wait? Australia, you are already too far behind, embrace marriage equality, and we will be one step closer to our ideal society.