Jean, I kinda like the idea of a referendum because it will mean that a majority of Australians vote for, support, and believe in, the concept of gay marriage. I think that's sweet.
Windsor said yesterday morning that he had voted in Parliament AGAINST gay marriage because he thought that the majority of his electorate wanted that. I get the feeling that both Gillard and Abbott are looking for votes, rather than taking a moral line on the issue.
I think it would be nice if the politics were taken out of gay marriage. I think it would be better if 20 million or so people had their say rather than a few hundred pollies. I think that sends a better message to gay members of the community.
Marriage has changed a lot over time. In the Middle Ages in Europe and the UK, marriages were often arranged between babies or children on the basis of property and wealth. Nothing to do with love. In some places that is still the case. It's only recently that it became a criminal offence to rape a wife in Australia. It was 1967? that married women were allowed to work for the APS. It used to be the case that when a woman married, her property belonged not to her, but her husband.
So, marriage has been redefined over the years to become a more equal institution for women ... I think it's time now to make it more equal 🙂
