Same-sex Marriage:
A Different View
12
Over the next term, there will be an article from the Rainbow Zebras in each issue of the Hungappa. They will be in a variety of formats, and on a range of different subjects. So keep an eye out ;D A letter to the editor was published in the DA in December of last year on the subject of same-sex marriage, and this was my reply, which has been modified for the Hungappa. This letter spoke of bestiality, how it related to same-sex marriage, and supposedly how there was no consistency in Australian law. There is a huge difference between a marriage of two people, and a person and an animal. The BIG one being both parties not being of the same species, and also that one (or more, considering this particular writer’s argument) party does not have the capacity for comprehension of what marriage entails.
Australia has come a long way since the blatant discriminatory action of the Marriage Act (2004), through recognition of same-sex relationships in regards to health and tax, for example. Though the federal government still falls short of granting same-sex couples the ability to marry. There are those out there that would ask “Why? Why is it such a big deal? Why are they making such a big deal out of it?” Well, why are any of us making a big deal out of it? To me, marriage is the union of two people of consenting age, who love each other, entered voluntarily into for life. Why should it matter whether both of them are of the same sex, or different sex? It’s not called same-sex marriage, or different-sex marriage. It is called marriage. We live in a secular country where most other laws have been altered to recognise all relationships, why not marriage?
Australia recognises same-sex relationships through various means. Each state has their own laws regarding relationship status. Here in NSW we have the Relationships Register Bill that was recently passed in 2010. However the federal government, who oversees everything to do with marriage, still have not progressed to change the marriage act from “the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life”, to “the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life”. The act did not always read as so. Whether same-sex marriages were legal in Australia was quite ambiguous until 2004 when the Howard government passed an amendment to the marriage act stating the above quote, specifying that marriage is between a man and a woman. Due to the growing number of other countries allowing same-sex marriage, the edit also included that same-sex marriages performed in other countries “must” not be recognised in Australia.
There are various arguments opposing marriage equality, some more illogical than others. An example of an almost logical one is that marriage has always been between a man and a woman, and is a religious institution. The reason it has been so: up until recently, marriage has always only been allowed between a man and a woman. Homosexuality was only decriminalised in the last 40 years.
The current Marriage Act affects couples where one partner is transgender and transitions from female to male or male to female. While, under the Act, there was no reason why they couldn’t marry prior to transition, if the transitioning partner changes their gender on their birth certificate, the marriage must be ended. There are two legal ways to end a marriage. One is annulment which the Act defines as occurring in circumstances such as bigamy, the parties being too closely related, where requirements of the Act were not met in the ceremony, there was a lack of consent by one of the parties or that one of the parties was not of marriageable age. A divorce is only an option in the case of irretrievable breakdown. The Marriage Act leaves transgender people in legal limbo and forces a choice between inconsistent identity documentation and ending what may be a happy, committed and loving marriage.
We live in a secular country, and as such it is possible to have a secular marriage. There is no need for any church to recognise a marriage between a same-sex couple. Another argument: why can’t same-sex couples be happy with a de facto relationship, or a civil union? Marriage is also very different to a de facto couple. As well as many legal benefits and simplifications associated with marriage, there is the childhood dream and cultural want for getting married. We were all children once, and the idea of marriage had a magical air. To grow up and find that it was not permitted that you could enter into that with someone you loved, for your family not to accept the importance of that relationship leads to cultural and community exclusion. Raimond Gaita, author of “Romulus, My Father”, likened it to “denying them of their full humanity”. Australia is a diverse and multicultural country. There is so much to learn, and so many different types of people and ways of life that some people can’t fully comprehend others thoughts or emotions. Prejudice stops understanding, and promotes ignorance, irrational fear and anger. What does marriage mean to you? What do you think it means to others? Tyson Arapali Rainbow Zebras The letter I replied to can be viewed at http://dft. ba/-290Y