This is an email I sent to Maggie Barry, my local MP, asking for her position on marriage equality and how she would vote were the question to come before the House.
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Good evening Ms Barry,
In light of the increased attention that the issue of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples (“marriage equality”) has been receiving over the past week or so, I am writing to inquire as to your position on the matter. If the question does come before the House during this parliamentary term it will certainly be dealt with as a conscience matter, so I would very much appreciate it if you could share some of your thinking about how you would vote.
I appreciate there is a feeling amongst some that this is in some way a complicated question, so for the sake of clarity I will try for a moment to define with somewhat more precision exactly what I mean when I say “marriage equality.” To my mind, the issue is really a very simple one: it is nothing more or less than a redefinition of ‘marriage’ to include couples of any gender combination. Unless additional changes were made to adoption legislation, it follows that a redefinition of marriage in this way would open the door for same-sex couples (if married) to adopt children.
As for churches and the performance of marriage ceremonies, the change described above would have no effect. Churches already have the right to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies where appropriate, and I do not anticipate a move to equal availability of marriage having any immediate impact on that right.
Having asked for your position on this question, it is only polite of me to offer an explanation of mine (inasmuch as it is not already quite clear).
You will be familiar with the difficulties that many LGBTQ youth face as they begin to come to terms with their sexuality in a world in which heteronormativity is everywhere. If you have not already been introduced to them, I would encourage you to take a moment to take a look at some of the excellent work that the Trevor Project does in the United States, and the worldwide It Gets Better campaign. They are just a few of the initiatives aimed at helping LBGTQ youth feel like their lives have value; that they are a part of society and that they have just as much of a right to be happy as their straight peers. I’m sure you can appreciate how much harder this task is made when one of the dominant institutions of social order remains closed to them.
Civil Unions were a great step towards recognition of full legal rights for same-sex couples. But in the campaign for equality and dignity they are a dismal failure. The civil rights movement has taught us that separate but equal is an offensive impossibility. LGBTQ members of our society are entitled to sit at the front of the bus.
There are of course individuals in our society who, for whatever reason, don’t support equal rights for same-sex couples to marry. They are entitled to their opinion, but they are not entitled to deny the rights of LGBTQ individuals to the dignity and respect they deserve. Reduced to its consequentialist core, that is what this issue is about. The status quo denies same-sex couples the dignity of their heterosexual counterparts. Granting equal marriage rights to same-sex couples denies heterosexual couples nothing. The answer should be a simple one.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your reply.
Brendon Steen
Forrest Hill, North Shore
