Equal Love Campaign - Australia

[thorfinn]

Australian Parliament House - Senate - Inquiry into the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009

Australian Marriage Equality - how to make a senate submission

Equal Love Campaign - Australia

Equal Love Campaign - Online Submission Form

Equal Love Campaign - details for who in the Senate to send stuff to

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I write to express my support for the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009.

Although I myself am in a heterosexual marriage, my partner and I chose to do a registry ceremony in the morning with just ourselves and required witnesses, and then held what we consider our Real Wedding in the afternoon, in front of our relatives and friends.

A major factor in that decision to keep the "legal ceremony" out of sight is the required wording reminding people that marriage is an exclusive union of a man and a woman.

We both have a large number of non-heterosexual friends, and we felt that that required wording would be offensive to them, and offensive to us.

I wish that our friends who wish to be joined in marriage in Australia be allowed to do so, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Anything else is a blatant inequality - their relationships are not any less powerful or worthy than my own, so why are they not allowed to choose the union of marriage?

Thank you,

David Goh

Comments

[lnr]

Thanks for posting this, I approve and agree entirely.

[pollyanna-n.livejournal.com]

There are words in the marriage ceremony which I find do not exactly apply to me, let alone my non-het friends, so much so, that I really don't think I'll get married at all, or at least, I wouldn't want it to be a public occassion.

And that seems to defeat the purpose of a wedding ceremony being a public celebration of a relationship.

Why oh why do there have to be specific words?!?

[aeduna.livejournal.com]

Nicely put :)

[p-cat.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the ALP conference just voted to ditch that bit.

We were lucky that the Registry Office celebrant was as hostile to it as we were, and she prefaced it by saying "As the law requires me to say - and I do not agree with it - 'Marriage is ...' " etc. I'd begged her to leave it out, so she did her best to come up with a compromise.

[shadow-5tails.livejournal.com]

Nifty. So where did you send that, then?

I'm overtired, and a tad emotional, but...

[crystal-storm.livejournal.com]

Gods bless you, Mr Goh. You just bought a tear to my eye.

As your "public" celebrant, and as a queer man with a male partner, I am honoured and touched by your eloquence.

I often wonder, if opponents to queer marriage still believe that religion has any part in determining marriage policy these days, whether they would oppose me in my role of marrying my friends to each other, because of my sexual orientation?

Interestingly, I have yet to make a submission myself, which is downright silly. In many ways, my own anger over the issue has kept me from attempting to craft a lucid and accessible delivery of my convictions. Such is my upset, that I have not become legally qualified, as I will never say those offensive words in any context, ever, regardless of any preface or framing I could potentially utilise to soften the blow.

You are right, and I challenge anyone who thinks they have a rational reason to oppose complete recognition of same sex marriage to meet me for coffee, and have the courage to tell me to my face that I deserve to be treated as the lesser "equal".

[sjkasabi.livejournal.com]

Nice letter. And a nice reminder to send one myself. Thanks.

[daern.livejournal.com]

Hear, Hear!