At last, Marriage Equality

Last week the Australian Parliament voted in a bill to say that marriage was between two people, not just a man and a woman.

It sounds so simple, but the right-wing in the Parliament put up every possible barrier to stop it. I won’t dwell on that, but rejoice that now all relationships are recognised before the law.

David Marr, a journalist who calls out cant and hypocrisy, was on the panel of The Drum, a current affairs program, when the final vote happened in Parliament. This clip posted  on Facebook shows his pride and emotion, and is interspersed with images of the aftermath in the House of Representatives. It is a moving moment.

Marr is so right to point out that in his lifetime he has seen the change from imprisonment for homosexual sex through to recognition of everyone’s relationships through marriage equality. And he is right to honour the men, women and trans, those warriors, who have fought for rights for the LGBTQI community.

Behind these scenes of jubilation is a long and proud tradition of fighting for rights, from Stonewall and the beginning of the Gay Liberation Front through campaigns to stop discrimination of gay men and increase funding during the AIDS epidemic to Same Sex Marriage. Behind these campaigns, and many more, have been men, women and trans who have been prepared to stand up and demand their rights at home, in their workplaces and in society.

Let’s not forget the suffering too ~ the beatings, deaths, suicides and stunted lives of many in the LGBTQI community.

Rejoice, but remember.

If you would like to watch something uplifting and heart-in-the-right-place-warming these holidays, I would suggest Pride. It is a movie about the support gays and lesbians gave to a mining village during the long miners’ strike in Britain in 1984. This is a great article to give background to the story.

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