Australia said YES, but It’s not over yet…

The people have spoken on marriage equality, and the answer is an unequivocal yes.

The LGBTI community and their allies have been celebrating the result and no doubt there were some serious hangovers today. For the ‘No’ campaign side, it was likely to be a different type of post-event haze. 

Despite all the pre-vote angst, the fact of the matter, is that Australians said YES to marriage equality and the sky is still blue, the sun is still shining, and children will still go to school. Little has changed, other than we now know empirically what our Government needs to do; join every other english speaking country and legislate equality of marriage under the law. 

As a gay man, I am truly happy with the YES result. Yet, I find it hard to feel gratitude towards our political leaders, given the hurdles the LGBTI community have historically faced and what this process has unleashed. It is fair to say that most Australians are feeling exhausted by the campaigning. 

While the postal survey is non-binding and the legislation still has to be passed in the senate, it’s hard to believe that right wing conservative Politicians could ignore the people’s decision. That would be undemocratic.

Where to from here? 

Whilst it is a mighty good start, the devil is in the detail and Parliament must now legislate fairly and quickly. 

Religious freedom will continue to be an ongoing debate. Like many in the LGBTI community, I would love to have the blessing of my church on my marriage but I must respect that for some groups this conflicts with their religious values. Whilst this hurts deeply, I choose not to wed my partner of 26 years in an institution where we are not welcomed. 

Religious institutions already have relevant exemptions, and so extending it any further is unnecessary.

What we cannot accept is allowing a business like a florist or a baker the ability to discriminate under the law by refusing to service a same-sex wedding because of their traditional view of marriage. If you extend this thinking, does this mean some businesses might also not service divorced couples remarrying or those in de facto relationships? What person would want to demand a service from a baker that hates them and at the same time, how many businesses would turn away a paying customer? Yes, the idea of introducing this type of legislation is both absurd and discriminatory. 

As Macklemore rightly sang, “No freedom until we’re equal.” 

Of course, one piece of legislation cannot right all the wrongs for LGBTI people.

Mental health in the LGBTI community is another big issue we must navigate. LGBTI teens and young adults have one of the highest rates of suicide attempts. According to some groups, this is linked to heterocentric cultures and institutionalised homophobia in some cases, including the use of rights and protections for LGBTI people as a political wedge issue during the same sex marriage debate. This is an area which the legislation should resolve and requires our urgent oversight.

We need to work towards inclusion for all 

What did this postal survey reveal about us as Australians? It reaffirmed that we are ‘fair dinkum’ about giving everyone a ‘fair go’. That this multi-cultural country has been built on diversity and not conservatism. That we are truly ‘young and free’. And that, whilst sometimes, parliament can seem like an absurd spectacle, common sense and egalitarianism has at least prevailed amongst the people.

We have seen that our country has people who call themselves Christians and espouse the gospel, but behave in an unChristian way. Wielding judgment and anger, they used their voice to preach prejudice. In the aftermath of the Survey, we have a duty to extend good faith and build an inclusive society together.

Though the LGBTI community is a small group by percentage of the population, we are your sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, colleagues and neighbours. I have seen that when we progress equality for LGBTI people, you help all minorities. And this gives me great hope for the future.

The road to true equality is always long and slow. A YES result is one small step on that path, but a giant leap for Australia.