Page 3562 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 22 October 2013
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Jeanette:
My beautiful daughter is a lesbian and she is currently in a happy and rewarding long-term relationship. I want my daughter to have the same right as others in the community to choose, if she so desires, to commit through marriage to the one she loves.
And finally Mary:
I have enjoyed more than 50 years in a heterosexual marriage; it has given me joy, strength, comfort, intense happiness. None of this will, in any way, be threatened or altered if homosexual Canberrans are also permitted by law to publicly declare their love and share the pleasures marriage has given me.
That is just a sample of the comments that I have received, and in just that small sample we can see that this law makes a real difference to the lives of many of our citizens.
That said, I recognise that there are people who do not agree with the notion of marriage equality at all. I have received representations, for example, from some religious leaders in Canberra. To those people I would emphasise two things: firstly, while this legislation may challenge your personal values, it does not foist anything upon you; your lives are not changed or intruded upon. Secondly, I would invite you to look into your hearts, perhaps imagine yourselves in the shoes of those who want this change and who are living with the discrimination that they have had to live with.
We have also heard the argument that the ACT should not legislate for marriage equality because supposedly it is an issue solely for the federal government. I simply disagree with this. This is a reform for ACT citizens and there is no reason why we as members, elected by the people of Canberra, should not be addressing this matter.
It is unfortunate that some in this place may not actually debate the substance of the issue here today, as Mr Hanson has done, because they claim the ACT does not have jurisdiction. Frankly, it seems like an excuse to avoid addressing the issue at hand. But today is the day to put a view on this. In some regards, I have more respect for those who are open in saying that they oppose marriage equality than I do for those who seek to hide behind process or jurisdictional arguments.
This is a historic vote in the ACT Assembly, and history will remember this. Members should vote based on what they actually believe and not on the party line or a sense that somehow the Assembly is not up to this. Let members be honest with the community today and have the spine to actually put a view about whether or not they support marriage equality.
Members may recall that when Sarah Hanson-Young’s marriage equality bill was debated in the Senate this year a Liberal senator, Senator Sue Boyce, crossed the floor to vote in favour of the bill. She voted with her heart and history will remember that she was on the side of fairness and equality.
Irrespective of the extent of the territory’s jurisdiction on this issue, I would also suggest that, as elected decision makers for the people of the ACT, it is incumbent on
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