Gay Liberal senator of WA Dean Smith has wasted no time and introduced his consensus marriage equality bill into the senate today (transcript of his speech below).
At the same time the conservatives marriage discrimination bill (that would have seen David and I being refused service by commercial businesses, against current state anti-discrimination law) has been abandoned for lack of support, even within the Liberal party itself. The anti-marriage equality brigade now favour putting up amendments to the Dean Smith bill. Such amendments would be subject to parliamentary debate and scrutiny, and any such amendments that transgress anti-discrimination law would be extremely likely to fail. The far right may have Turnbull by the balls but they don't have the parliament, particularly the senate where the gov is in a minority.
The resounding Yes vote has been a huge blow to the RWNJ's in the gov and they now have no choice but to capitulate to the verdict of the postal survey that they demanded of us. The pressure is on by the leaders of the gov to get marriage equality over and done with and out of the way as a pending election issue. Turnbull is even saying against the wishes of the right that it will happen by Christmas. Has he finally found his balls?
No, I'm not at all thankful to the Liberal and National party coalition for this. This has been far far far too long in coming with David and I's life being used by the coalition to address their internal problems of entrenched homophobia. The LGBT have been put through the wringer over years, repeatedly attempting to get the parliament to act only to have our efforts shot down in flames. Yes Labor rejected marriage equality too a few years back but at least they've learned and modernised their position. This gov has been the most recalcitrant and hardline opponents of gays in decades.
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