Should Gay Marriage Be Legalized In Australia

Lobby groups such as Marriage Equality Australia and the NSW Gay and Lesbian Lobby Group were instrumental in securing equal rights for homosexual de facto couples, and are currently campaigns for the legislation of same sex marriage. Despite a galaxy polls show that 63% of Australians were in favour of same-sex marriage (‘Majority of Australia supports same-sex marriage’, January 201, SMH), the law has refused to acknowledge it, enacts the Marriage Act Amendment (2004) to stipulate the definition of marriage as being between a ‘man and a women’. However, former PM Kevin Rudd has acknowledged the movement of same-sex marriage, promising to enact it if he were to be re-elected (PM promises legislation of same-sex marriage, August 2013, SMH). As such, it can be seen that although the law has been slower in recognising same-sex marriage, it is still able to reflect contemporary societal values and issues, thus achieves a just outcome for those in same-sex relationships, protecting the individual rights to

For Australian law to be effective it must be dynamic so it can reflect changing societal views, which law reform can help attain. A significant area of recent social change is the acceptance of same-sex relationships in Australian society. To mirror this, current law reforms have been somewhat effective in achieving just outcomes regarding the recognition of same-sex relationships in Commonwealth law. The combination of official recognition of same-sex relationships to an extent, attempts at removing discrimination in legislation, and the delay of justice denotes this. Considering the achievement of justice and the protection of individual’s rights, it is evident that law reform has significantly improved recognition of same-sex relationships, but there are more essential responses that need to be enacted.

On May 23rd 2015, Ireland became one of the first few countries throughout the world to legalized gay marriage. Since this approval there has been new debate as to where Australia stands on same-sex marriage. The amount of same-sex couples in Australia increased by 32% from 2006 to 2011 and 70% of the Australian nation believe that Australia should allow the right to same-sex marriage. Before the Marriage Amendment Act 2004 by the Howard Government, there was no previous definition of Marriage in the 1961 Act and the definition was based on common law. The definition changed by the Howard Government in

Australia’s Senate and House of Representatives recently rejected bills to accept homosexual marriage in Australia. Labor MP Stephen Jones and Labor Senator Trish Crossin have both put forward a bill to gain marriage equality with both bills failing to pass through to the governor general (House of Representatives – 98-42, and

This promoted laws that provided fewer opportunities for people in the gay community, while also triggering further discrimination. Authorities made every move possible to keep homosexuality out of the public eye by not allowing employment opportunities, entertainment, and services for homosexual people (Chauncey 8-9). Additionally, until recent years, no one has been interested to look for history surrounding the “gay world”, making it incredibly simple to forget that part of history. Historians also have limited ideas about where to search for research on the topic. This is because most historians search through pieces that deal with the middle-upper class society when the gay community was primarily consumed by the working class citizens (Chauncey 9-10). Lastly, prewar homosexual society has been forgotten greatly due to the fact of the extraordinarily substantial growth of the gay community post World War 2 (Chauncey

For centuries, same sex couples have been scrutinised and marginalised based on their sexual orientation, however, over recent decades, movements established by same sex couples have enticed the Australian Government to equate specific rights and privileges between homo- and heterosexual couples. Although, the progress this movement has maintained has been stagnated by the influential Christian portion of Australia, whom of which strongly oppose the concept of homosexuality. Regardless of the superior social status they now withhold, same sex couples are still confronted with numerous socio-economic and cultural injustices within society, manifested through the immoral beliefs of homophobic citizens and religious characters.

Imagine if your love was a crime. Imagine if the world frowned upon it; deemed it illegal. We live in a land of equality; is letting heterosexual couples but not homosexual couples get married equal? Criminalizing gay marriage is a form of discrimination. Homosexual couples have just as much of a right to pledge their love as straight couples do. Gay marriage should be legalized in Australia, and there are several strong reasons why this has to occur.

There is a debate regarding whether or not gay marriage should be legalised and whether or not the constitution should be changed in order to allow for gay marriage. Marriage in Australia can be defined as the legally or formally recognized union of a man and a woman voluntarily entered into for life. This is known as the Australian Marriage Act of 1961 and it is a law made by the Australian Parliament. This law specifically excludes any other forms of marriage, including traditional Aboriginal marriages, same-sex marriages and polygamous marriages but has since 2009 recognised de facto relationships. (Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia, 2015).

The concept of gay or same sex marriage is controversial. There are a number of countries where homosexual couples are allowed to marry with their relationship gaining the same recognition as heterosexual couples; countries who allow gay marriage include Sweden, Spain, Canada, Iceland and Argentina. In the US nine states, plus Washington DC provide for gay marriages (FTM, 2012). It would appear that there is a gradual movement towards acceptance of gay marriage, but with only a minatory of people living in areas where gay marriage is accepted there is still a great deal of resistance, with a restatement of arguments against gay marriage, but when examining those arguments many are flawed and reflect fears rather than fact.

There are seventy-six countries around the world that have anti-gay laws that prohibit any sort of gay sexual relationship, gay propaganda, and same-sex marriage (Bertrand, 2015). This means that in seventy-six countries, the LGBTQ community is prosecuted, both socially and legally. In Angola, the law prohibits any sort of sexual activity between those of the same-sex. If anyone caught and fined/jailed repeatedly, the law says that they can be put into a forced labour camp (Jones, 2013). In Barbados, anyone caught having sexual relations with someone of the same sex can be put in prison for life. In Saudi Arabia, same-sex relations can result in whipping, banishment, or death by stoning (Jones, 2013). These countries, of course, do not have marriage equality. There are two harmful results of these laws- systematic oppression of homosexual individuals, and the taking away of free love. Even progressive countries have had issues in the past and in the present with people disagreeing with the legalization of same-sex marriage. In Canada, after same-sex marriage was legalized, Stephan Harper tried to get the decision repealed because he did not agree with it (“Senate approves same-sex bill”, 2005). There is a lot of discrimination towards homosexuals when it comes to their right to

Right now our country is still dealing with one of the bigger social issues that plagues our society. People will argue for and against it in many different ways, whether it be right or wrong. The issue at hand is whether gay marriage should be legal or illegal. There are arguments on both sides of the spectrum, but at the end of the day gay marriage should be legal in all 50 states. Marriage is a right and freedom that should not be denied to any one person because of sexual orientation.

Police brutality allowed homosexuals to be persecuted to a large extent. Up until 1975, it was illegal

Why is gay marriage feared by a wide variety of heterosexuals, when it doesn’t take anything away from them? 44% of Australian residents opposed gay marriage in this years vote to legalize it. A little less than half of Australia opposed, when gay people being married won’t harm them in any form or fashion. "When he said that letting gay couples marry would harm the state’s ability to encourage heterosexual marriage, she said “How could that be? ... You’re not taking anything

There are many articles written about the debate of same-sex marriage with many varying opinions on whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. Everyone has their own opinion about same-sex marriage. But they don’t seem to understand how many people it will effect in Australia if it’s a majority “No” vote. An article called ‘Census: Same-Sex Couples Still A Statistically Small Percent Of Australians’. The article states that 40%—50% of the population is gay. Which means of a population of nearly 24.5 million people roughly half is gay. So why not allow gay marriage to happen here in Australia? There is already so many countries that have already allowed it to happen in their country in the last 20 years.

Lesbian and gays’ (LG) have endured discrimination for many years with at least 20,000 same sex couples in Australia, still suffering discrimination in their every day life (Human rights, 2013). However, their rights in Australia have gradually progressed since the 20th century, with LG’s rights being recognised more in politic genders. People who identify their sexual interest as LGBT in 2016 have almost the same amount of rights as Heterosexuals, except for marriage. Although Australia rights for LG has advanced, the country is still far behind its neighbouring western countries such as Ireland, New Zealand that have made the push to legalise gay marriage. This essay will analyse the changes of rights same sex couples have experienced over time and how they have advanced. It will explore the hypothesis to find a suitable conclusion, do ’Same sex couples today have greater rights than they did in previous generations.’