“Look at me, I’m on a horse, I’m on a high horse.”
I will never be able to fathom how it came to pass that the Lib-Labs thought they were going to get this one by us. I mean it takes the very ideals of equality, of a fair go, of an inclusive world view and basically shoves them in a closet, locks it and throws away the key. The only thing I can think is that they thought this was a “gay issue,” and that gay people are a minority who keep to themselves and don’t have much voting power. Could they have been more wrong?
When a Liberal voting Vietnam veteran gets up on Q&A and asks Tony what he should do about his gay son, you know it’s just the beginning of an uncomfortable discussion. Because if a Liberal voting Vietnam vet can accept homosexuality as okay, you can safely assume most people can. But neither Tony nor Julia thought gay marriage was an issue. Apparently it would have been an issue to let same-sex couples get married. I’m not sure how it would have torn the fabric of society asunder, but clearly they thought it would. Welcome to the fallout.
Gay and lesbian people don’t just live in “Gayland.” They don’t just know other gays, they actually walk amongst us. “Some of my best friends are gay” is not just a stupid cliché, it’s a fact. Not only that, but some of my other best friends are probably gay, and if and when they come out I want them to have the option of getting married if they so choose.
Because we live in the year 2010 and ultimately, that is what is right.
So once you get past the blatant homophobia it’s time to dissect the “civil union” bullcrap. I mean seriously, what is that? “We both take gay people very seriously and we believe they have every right to live together in a recognised civil union, but it’s just not marriage?” Well then what the hell is it? I mean sure, a lot of hetro-folk don’t like to take the risk of getting married (not naming names, Julia) but if people want to give it a shot, that’s surely their business.
Besides, the big unspoken issue is what are our same-sex friends going to put on their "non-wedding" invitations? “Tony and Barnaby are getting civil unionised!” Or would it be more like “Julia and Penny are getting married! Please don’t tell the PM!”
If my friends, gay or straight, want to get married then I want to go to their weddings.
I cannot fathom a future that denies me this right.
PS.
I’m still not absolutely sure what The Chaser was saying and I think that’s because I didn’t undertake an arts degree. I think the gist of it is “red and blue think that if they allow gay people to get married it will turn out that all the “straight” husbands will run away to marry their gay lovers on boats, thus destabilising the very fabric of society. And we like horses.”
