Marriage Equality – it’s everything about equality.

I’ve not managed to find a lot of time to write over these last days, in some ways this is probably a good thing. I’ve been on somewhat of a roller coaster of emotional existence, since again the government of my country failed again to just get it done. Instead of doing the job they are paid to do, and vote on legislation as the members of parliament of a representative democracy, they concocted a convoluted plan to delay it again.

Delayed again making it law for all people to be seen as equal before the law. For LGBTI+ relationships to have the same standing as heterosexual relationships do. Delayed again enshrining in law the rights of partners in LGBTI+ relationships to make end of life decisions and be in control of things like funeral arrangements and so forth.

Delayed again what is a matter of fact for a heterosexual couple, the ability to be listed as spouse or partner in the tragic circumstances of the death of a partner.

For too marriage equality has been placed in the too hard basket by gutless politicians. Not all of them, but enough to stall it time and again. Even it seems politicians who genuinely believe in and support marriage equality, even then it seems political survival is more expedient than the human equal standing of all humans.

And it is equality. Imagine if the politicians argued that allowing heterosexual marriage would lead to beastiality . Imagine the outrage, and yet this is an argument put forward by more than one opponent of marriage equality.

The opponents are very good about reframing the issue, to move away from the issue of equality. They call it gay marriage, same-sex marriage for example. These descriptors are never a depiction of the real issue. The real issue, is equality.

This week I saw the ridiculous argument put forward that allowing marriage equality could lead to monuments marrying each other. Surely a sign of how much of a grasp on the issue such proponents actually have.

In the end it doesn’t really matter whether or not you agree with LGBTI+ people and their lifestyles. Whether it be religious reasons or any other reasons, because that’s not the point. The point, the most cogent point, is that we the LGBTI+ community are human persons just like the heterosexual community. As such we should be afforded the same position before the law as the heterosexual community.

Would you say a gay man is not entitled to work?

Would you say a lesbian woman is not entitled to Medicare?

A transgender person not allowed to hold a drivers license?

And that’s the rub isn’t it. We are human persons, you are human persons. Even if our politicians are unable to behave as such lets us behave as such.

They’ve foisted upon us a process that is ridiculous, unfair, outrageous and designed to disenfranchise whole segments of the community. A non binding postal plebiscite. Apparently to find out what we the people think, even though we’ve told them in so many opinion polls consistently over many years now. We the people are in favour of marriage equality. That question has been answered loudly and clearly in the wider community.

But, we have this process, a process aimed at a particular hoped for result. It’s time for we the people to beat them at their own game. If you are for human equality make sure you are enrolled and get that yes vote in when the time comes. It would be easy to say boycott this process, it’s extremely tempting to do so, but it would play into the hands of the hard right wing power brokers of the government.

If you are a person that is for equality then vote yes, if you are feel this is a step too far, due to personal convictions, then I would respectfully request you do boycott it. Because how is two LGBTI+ people being married actually of any concern of yours at all.

As ridiculous as this process is, it is, assuming it gets through it’s legal challenges, the way forward in front of use. With that being the case I implore you vote yes for equality. Vote yes to tell me, that person down road, your work colleague, all those strangers you see on news items about Pride, that we are equal, we are human, and we matter.

Vote yes to end the endless circle of power games being played at the expense of our lives by politicians too worried about themselves to do the job they are paid to do.

If we must have this outrageous plebiscite, if we must, then lets fucking win it with a yes vote.