LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
I WOULD like to reply to Charles James’ enlightening letter to the editor.
Mr James begins his opinion piece by stating that he does not agree with Bill Shorten on the issue of “homosexual (gay) marriage”.
That’s perfectly acceptable and Mr James is as entitled to his own opinion as anyone else.
I would like to refute Mr James’ arguments while respectfully acknowledging his right to express his opinion.
Mr James’ letter then goes onto say “these people are not disadvantaged, discriminated against or missing out on marriage equality”.
Well, actually Mr James, yes. Yes they are.
That is exactly the point.
Mr James then continues by comparing same sex marriage to a marriage between himself and a cat. Seriously?
This appears to be derogatory; comparing same sex couples to animals is just not on.
Mr James states that marriage was made for a man and a woman. Yes it is.
The Australian Marriage Act (1961) recognises marriage between a man and a woman.
It was made by parliament and has been amended a number of times, including in 2009 to recognise de facto relationships between opposite sex and same sex couples.
My point here is that it is an act of parliament and can evolve to reflect changing society.
Mr James says Bill Shorten’s claim that 72 per cent of the population are in favour of marriage equality is “just not true”.
He then backs up his statement by saying “I would make a guess that 70 to 80 per cent are against marriage equality” and that “gay lobby groups” ensure “all gays have a say”.
The implication is that the figures are skewed by vocal gay rights groups.
My response to this argument is that I’m sure Galaxy Research, News Ltd and Sydney Morning Herald/Neilson did not just poll lobby groups when they compiled the following statistics:
News Ltd (2011) “seven in 10 Australians support marriage equality”.
SMH/Neilson (2011) “62 per cent of Australians support marriage equality”.
Galaxy Research (2012) “64 per cent of Australians support marriage equality. Eighty-one per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds support marriage equality. Fifty-three per cent of Christians surveyed support marriage equality”.
Mr James concludes by urging people to put pen to paper and let their member of parliament and newspapers “know the truth”.
I have put pen to paper and urge everyone, pro or anti-marriage equality to respectfully express their opinion.
I’m not afraid of the debate because I have faith in the majority of Australians to speak out against bigotry and discrimination.
