On gay people getting married

In a move that shocked absolutely no-one, Tony Abbott confirmed on Monday's episode of Q&A his opposition to gay marriage. He was then good enough to go on to say that he knew he would be disappointing people by stating such a position, although it seems that to be disappointed by Tony Abbott's opposition to gay marriage would be a bit akin to being disappointed by Tony Abbott's unwillingness to promise us all the ability to fly if elected Prime Minister. But of course, on the question of why such a distinction was justified Abbott had no real answer besides "just because that’s what a marriage is". Yes, and a few hundred years back we burnt witches Tony, because that's just what we did with witches, but perhaps that's a position which hasn't aged all that well since the onset of the Enlightenment. You can see Abbott's full prevarication here:




Coming from a man who had on 60 Minutes previously uttered the rather unfortunate phrase "I’d probably say I feel a bit threatened" when asked about his feelings toward gay people, a broader opposition to gay marriage was really just to be expected. But I guess it is disappointing in that it continues Australian politics' longstanding tradition of treating the gay and lesbian community a bit like an embarrassing relative. Like the auntie you keep locked in the basement and wheel out only when required to keep up appearances in front of suspicious neighbours. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about... Right?... Uh.

But with Abbott blindly following his "beliefs" and Rudd not having a bar of gay marriage either, people who care about the question of whether gay people should be treated the same as straight people are left with a depressing non-choice in the coming elections. But what I find really disheartening about Australia's attitude towards gay marriage isn't so much our base opposition to it - a stance that unfortunately puts us on par with many, many other Western nations - but rather the fact that we appear to feel so insecure about the "sanctity of marriage" that we have taken active steps over recent years to prohibit gay people from even thinking about the prospect of getting married.

First we had Howard who, in a move replicated almost nowhere else in the world, changed the text of the law of Australia so as to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This definition is repeated at every single wedding in Australia. Just so "the gays" don't forget their place. His reasoning: because the primary purpose of marriage is procreation. I mean it's better than "because that’s what a marriage is", but shit dude, procreation? I guess that doesn't bode well for the infertile or the electively childless then, does it?

But then those uppity sorts in the ACT decided to try and bump through a bill permitting civil unions between people of the same sex, which was essentially going to be the same as marriage but with a different name. Say what you will about the desolate pit of boredom and isolation that is our nation's capital, but on pornography and gay rights they have got the right idea. But this didn't stop Howard from using the Federal Government's clout to overrule the law not once, but twice. The ACT decided to have another crack when Rudd stepped up to the plate after Rudd suggested he'd let such a plan stand if elected PM, but then in 2008 they were forced to abandon plans once more after the Attorney General objected to the fact that this bill would have allowed gay people to publicly celebrate their love at a ceremony in front of family and friends. So they settled for a registry, where gay people can write their names in a book and then retreat quietly back to their holes so nobody has to deal with them.

And man, doesn't that just fucking disgust you? Because it disgusts me. It really does. Generally on this blog I try and retain a certain apolitical vibe. I figure there's usually not all that much point in vigourously flying the flag of your beliefs because all it does is piss people off and alienate the readership. But there's just something about gay rights that makes it hard for me to keep a sense of balance in my writing. It's hard to know exactly why, but there is no faster way to incur my disdain than to get on the good ship homophobia. I think it's because to me homophobia just feels like the final resort of the educated bigot; a place where people with insufficient intelligence to properly sort through the facts of the world are allowed to judge their fellow humans merely because of who they love. As if two consenting adults hoping to take part in one of our culture's most esteemed and potentially wondrous rituals are worthy of scorn just because their genitalia doesn't match up with some perceived "right order of things" (also via Tony Abbott).

In the end, I think it offends me so deeply because I cannot help but see these ideas as being fundamentally and absolutely baseless. If we consider ourselves to be a secular, rational society, then even if a certain religion absolutely forbids gay marriage, then surely that should only apply to the extent that said religion chooses not to sanctify gay marriages. And that's fine. It really is. But Australia isn't a religion. It's a well-to-do, educated, largely progressive nation that attempts to treat the majority of its citizens equally and fairly (refugees and Aboriginal people perhaps notwithstanding, but that's another blog altogether...), and I cannot conceive of a single reason why gay marriage should not be permitted. It's not an assault on you, or me, or the children, or anything like that. It's merely a statement that the immense privilege that is being able to love another human being and have that love respected and celebrated by the society in which you live is something that all people are entitled to if they so choose. No matter what configuration of penises and vaginas might be involved in the process.

Whew. Feel better with that out.

With all this said, I know that by and large Australia's homosexual population has it pretty good. I know that by and large they have the same rights as Australia's heterosexual population. I know that by and large the people of Australia are fine with gay people and treat them equally and fairly. I just think that marriage is a pretty potent symbol in our society, and our continued choice to withhold this symbol from our homosexual population is a choice that makes us ugly.

Also, weddings are really fun and I want to attend more of them.