Rights stuff already abounds
ONE of the big claims made by gay marriage lobbyists is that gay couples don’t have the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. This appears to be incorrect. The Australian Marriage Service has been spruiking what it calls the “Evermore Pledge” which claims to grant signatories exactly the same national and international rights as those under the Marriage Act.
The term “marriage equality” is also misleading. For true equality, activists should be demanding all types of marriages be recognised under the act, including to animals, multiple partners and children.
Who’s to say other non-traditional ideals of marriage aren’t equal to the homosexual ideal?
And that’s what many opponents fear. That by granting “equality” to gay relationships, it will set a precedent for other definitions of marriage to be included.
For instance, how can we say yes to gay relationships but no to polygamy?
That could be argued as discriminatory in itself.
Melbourne lawyer Peter Nevile from Nevile & Co Commercial Lawyers said the Evermore Pledge actually grants people – gay or straight – more rights than simply getting marile ried under the act. It offers couples two wills, a binding financial agreement, and power of attorney – things that often need a court’s intervention in marriages under the act.
Michelle Anderson from the Australian Marriage Service believes that more education is needed about the Evermore Pledge.
I asked Rodney Croome from the “Just. Equal” gay marriage advocacy about the Evermore Pledge and he said it didn’t grant the same legal rights to gay couples. Ms Anderson flatly refuted this. Mr Croome then said superannuation funds could still deny a gay person access to their partner’s super and that families could still take control of deceased estates from the departed’s gay partner.
Again, Ms Anderson and Mr Nev- denied this was true for “Evermore” couples.
When I alerted Mr Croome to this, he said “marriage” as a concept grants people instant recognition and respect. In other words, telling people and authorities you’re married, and using that term, grants people an identity that doesn’t need explaining or justification.
This appears to be the crux of the gay marriage argument and it carries some weight.
When you say you’re married, no further explanation is needed, and that’s what advocates are fighting for.
But in light of this, and now that we’ve established there is no legal inequality, surely there is more merit in pushing the Evermore Pledge, and educating everyone about the status it grants, than in going through the current moralistic posturing, false accusations of homophobia and puerile political backbiting.
This would appease opponents of changing the act, does away with the need for an expensive, divisive and pointless postal plebiscite, and shows the world Australia does protect committed gay relationships by law.
It sounds like a reasonable compromise and gay people can still just tell people they’re married anyway.
And don’t believe the Labor Party’s claims of being the moral guardians of gay marriage. They had two terms to pass this legislation and squibbed it.
But now they can see a chance to attack the Coalition, they’re all over it.
The other aspect is human rights – that is, should people be treated differently simply because of who they are, regardless of how good their character is. For many, that is (or should be) a “no”.
But changing the Marriage Act isn’t simply about treating everyone the same, it also aims to place gay and straight relationships on an equal footing, and it’s understandable why traditionally minded people are against that.
Others are concerned that it will make it easier for gay couples to adopt children and that children have the right to be and experience better outcomes from being brought up by a man and a woman and the kind of nurturing peculiar to each gender.
There are counter-arguments to all these points, so we can continue going around in circles or scrap the process entirely and educate everyone that gay relationships do in fact have legal protections in this country.