Australia, here’s a story for you.
One of my best friends in Canada is Kate, a fellow Vancouver-dwelling Perthian. She sent me a message today, upset, asking how we were supposed to do our postal vote for the upcoming plebiscite.
Non-Australians reading, here’s an update:
For over a decade now, our federal government (let me be clear: both major parties) has been pussyfooting around the issue of legalising gay marriage. Though for at least a decade the polls show most Australians want gay marriage to be legalised, party politics and the absurd political standoff in our nation has prevented either of the major parties from actually doing their job (making a damned decision and governing their people in a manner reflecting the will of said people). The incumbent federal parasites politicians have gone one step further. They, poor poppets, aren’t allowing a free vote in their party on the matter. The opposition have (finally) taken the stance of wanting to legalise gay marriage. It’s entirely probable that quite a few members of the shackled party want to vote for gay marriage to be legalised. Not to worry folks, the Turnbull administration aren’t going to let this happen without a good fight. In honour of last weeks Pride celebrations, no doubt, they have organized a non-binding, not compulsory plebiscite. This means every Aussie battler can use a frankly outdated and unreliable (I’m looking at you, Australia Post) method of communication to tell the pollies whether they think consenting adults should be allowed to officially declare their love for each other in an equal manner to other consenting adults.
Phew, big decisions!
Here’s the kicker: legally, we don’t need a plebiscite. Plebiscites are used to change the Constitution. There is nothing in the Australian Constitution preventing us from legalising gay marriage. This is just going to give everyone with a soapbox (me included – duh!) the chance to tell all the other people what they think about the issue. This includes people who think being gay is evil or wrong (again, “consenting adults” people!) telling LGBT+ people, an already beleaguered group, that they are evil and wrong. This includes telling LGBT+ youth, who have a much higher suicide rate than heterosexual youth, that they are less than worthy. Oh, and did I mention the government just announce people have only two weeks to register to vote?
After the protracted postal voting period (the final results being determined in mid-November), the government will decide whether or not to decide on a matter they could decide on this week. This will be an extended verbal, possibly literal, gay bashing. Oh yeah, current estimates for this little social experiment are sitting at around $95 million AUD. Frankly, there’s nothing else I can think of to spend that on.
Sounds great, right.
If you’re angry reading this, good! You should be. This is ludicrous. Australia is behind Ireland, a Catholic country, in legalising gay marriage (disclaimer: I love the Irish, but I’m not 100% sold on some of Catholicism’s wibbly bits).
For. Fuck’s. Sake (second disclaimer: language warning – oops).
Back to the anger:
Use your anger. Get up and prove that Australians aren’t the internationally reknown arsehats we are rapidly becoming known as. *cough refugees cough*. We are good people, not backwards, bigoted, boneheaded bastards. We a small country, with boundless plains to share (though we don’t know the second verse of our national anthem), if we could start sharing them with goodness and love, imagine how wonderful life in Aus could be? As the wonderful Sir Terry Pritchett once wrote, “don’t get afraid, get angry.” Don’t let apathy win.
Handy Tips for the Rebellion:
Inform yourself: learn as much as you can about the issues around gay marriage. Visit the below website for a good start on your research mission.
Click to access AME-Fact-Sheet-Free-Vote-versus-Plebiscite.pdf
Inform others: once you are up to date on the issue, you can positively influence those who can’t see the matter for what it is – two consent adults wanting to get married and love each other. People have all sorts of reasons for embodying the fear they have, and treating them with a level of understanding is critical to them being able to understand you too. Be kind. For ideas on how to manage this without blowing a fuse, watch the TED Talk below.
Support others: if you have a bit of spare cash rattling around in your pocket, make a donation to an LGBT+ youth support group. These are the people who are going to really need the love and care at this time. One suggestion of a place to donate to in in the link below.
https://minus18.org.au/index.php/donate
Support others who you know: give love and care to the LGBT+ people in your life. Figures are iffy given research methods, but it looks like at least 5% of people identify as LGBT+. Basically, you know LGBT+ people whether you realise or not. Find these people and, without being an idiot about it, ask them what you can do to offer support.
Write to your local member of parliament: show the government you know how to use the postal service, and send a letter. Write an email. Send a carrier pigeon. Do something to express your displeasure (except sending a bag of dog poo, which is generally poorly received). Oh, and tell your friends to jump on this too.
If you are in distress about this or anything else, please don’t be alone. If nothing else, call Lifeline: 13 11 14.
This is about all I can think of in my rage addled state, but please do something. Don’t sit back and let people be cruel. Don’t let this be one of the things that defines our nation. We are better than this.
Author note: I’m pretty heterosexual. I do love and care for a large number of people who do not identify as straight. I have written this article to show my support, but if I have written anything you as an LGBT+ person take issue with, please let me know in the comments.
deaddogdiary 