GAY Marriage, it’s a loaded term, just like boat people.
Use it for long enough in that way and society is conditioned like Pavlov’s dog. The real debate is lost and people forget about what the fuss is really all about.
So let’s strip it back a little. There has been a fair bit of banter about the subject in Canberra in the past few months, and rightly so.
Our society’s values are changing so fast that our laws struggle to keep up. It’s no wonder that altering the marriage act to include same-sex couples is on the agenda.
And we would be kidding ourselves to say Greens leader Bob Brown, an out-there and proud gay man, is at the root of the debate. It would have come up sooner or later.
Homosexual couples have almost joined mainstream society. Almost, because there is still fierce opposition to them walking down the aisle, particularly in the conservative pockets of our sunburnt country.
It’s easy to see why people with strong religious and traditionalist views would consider ‘I now pronounce you husband and husband’ or ‘wife and wife’ far too radical to entertain, and an idea that should be quashed immediately because it contravenes the pillars of our society, which are cemented in Christian teaching. Some argue that legalising samesex marriage would dilute the institution and cause homosexuality to spread, as if it were the plague. Parents would shudder when their four-year-old sons pick up a pink handbag in a harmless game of dress-ups at kindergarten.
But these are very one-dimensional views, not to mention the latter being downright ridiculous.
Let’s have a look at the religious aspect. It’s true God created man and woman for a reason, to go forth and multiply. Man and man, and woman and woman obviously can’t do that, so one could argue that they’re not fulfilling one of God’s fundamental aims for us. But in this day and age same-sex couples can of course multiply. There are surrogates, IVF, not to mention adoption. So strike that one down.
But further into the Bible there is the story about Sodom and Gomorrah, where our word sodomy comes from, a practice many consider synonymous with homosexuality. But to use the biblical story to say homosexuality is an act of moral corruption is misguided. How many red light cinemas and seedy strip clubs are dotted across our land, especially in Canberra, where straight people linger and salivate in heterosexual frivolity? Those dark little venues, with their dark little corners are today’s Sodom and Gomorrah, and there’s not a gay person in sight.
One interpretation of the Bible is to consider it as one of the greatest love stories ever told. Love.
And this is what gay marriage is all about — two people who are committed to each other so deeply that they want to forge their relationship into a lifelong bond.
Still the Australian Christian Lobby will campaign hard against this. I think they’re wasting their breath and money.
The church and state are separated, and God gave us free will. If homosexuality is indeed a sin, it’s not our place to judge. If you are so religiously inclined, a higher authority — one known for his love and compassion — will do that down the track.
Gay couples are no different to straight couples — they are our colleagues, neighbours and friends. Most importantly they are in love.
That little thing that is all you need. So let’s make love not war.
After all, why should they be able to have all the fun without the wedding ring?
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