Australia has finally legalised marriage equality - but where does that leave the Government?
Yesterday the Australian government finally legalised marriage equality. That's a HUGE win for Australia and our beautiful LBGTI community. Whilst I am so extremely happy for my LBGTI friends and believe that this moment is a very good example of people coming together to effect massive change, when I reflect on what has happened for us to get here, and the actions of the people who were responsible for this (and by this I don't mean the people who voted YES, I mean the politicians), I get angry - I get really angry and it pisses me off to see the hypocrisy of the situation.
For those who don't know, in order to get to this point, the Government put forward a plebiscite because the Government or the politicians did not have enough courage or balls to actually just made a the most obvious and fair call for the Australian people - whether marriage equality should be recognised. Because of this, the Australian Government spent about $122 million in asking the people of Australia what they thought about the topic - a vote which wasn't binding.
Here lies the first thing that pisses me off - $122 million?! Are you kidding me? $122 million to print pieces of paper to ask the Australian population for their opinion which may or may not be taken into account. Let that sink people. How stupid is does that sound? I look at our health, educational and transport system and think "Wow, $122 million could have gone towards making those systems a bit better and really helping people" but no, the Government chose to spend the money on this.
The second thing that annoyed me was that the plebiscite legitimised the start of a hurtful campaign against the LBGTI community. Leading up to now, they already had to put up with so many years of abuse just because they loved someone who, in the eyes of some politicians and religions, they shouldn't. Think about it - these people were essentially denying the right for someone to be loved. Everyone wants to be loved - who the heck has a right to say that you do not deserve love???? I think that homosexuality or "hidden homosexuality" could be a big underlying cause of suicide and mental health in the world and I have no doubt that this debate would have contributed to this as well. So much hate came out - it was really disgusting to witness.
I just wanted to be clear however that I respect that people have differing opinions on this topic - which is fine - but don't let the differing opinions lead to violence and hatred. That is what disgusted me. In some aspects I voiced my opinion on the topic which was pretty much that there was no logical reason to say NO to marriage equality but I didn't go out and incite violence against those who did not agree with me.
So, the people voted YES, and then came the lawmakers and lobbyists who started to put forward an argument to allow those who did not agree to marriage equality to get around anti-discrimination laws! Yea - they wanted it to be legal to discriminate against the LGBTI community because they didn't agree with who they loved. Um I'm sorry but doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of having anti-discrimination laws in the first place? Thank goodness the politicians pretty much said "That ain't happening".
Now - marriage equality is legal. As it should be. As it should always have been. But here is the other thing that pisses me off. The politicians who didn't have balls to just make a decision, are now seen as celebrating and happy that they got it done! They're taking credit for something that they really shouldn't be taking credit for - it's the Australian people who voted YES who should be taking the credit because THEY made it happen. I barely watch news on the TV and when I do, I get so irritated by listening to the segments on politicians because it annoys me that they always dodge the question and that they are in this game for one thing - their ego. They're not in this game to help people. It is precisely this that makes my blood boil.
The people who supposedly run our society "to our benefit" are clearly not doing it. Instead of focusing on topics like health, education, the elderly, etc, our news is full of "Is this politician really Australian". Are you kidding me?! This is who we have voted to run our country and society?
Today I sit here with the news on seeing all of the politicians celebrating the historical moment yesterday in parliament and seeing interviews with the prime minister and the opposition leader singing praises about this day. I actually had to switch the TV off because of the obvious hypocrisy of the situation - it reminded me of a person's boss or team leader taking credit for something that you actually did and not them. We are so lacking integrity in this day and age it is really sad to see.
However, I have hope. The fact that the people got together to make this moment come to fruition really does say a lot. It's about the power of the people, and it is about love. If only we could come together for the major topics and work towards love than things would change - things would have no choice to change. What happened in Australia is proof of this. As above and so below - so let's take this movement forward people, and bring peace and love to the entire world.
For those who don't know, in order to get to this point, the Government put forward a plebiscite because the Government or the politicians did not have enough courage or balls to actually just made a the most obvious and fair call for the Australian people - whether marriage equality should be recognised. Because of this, the Australian Government spent about $122 million in asking the people of Australia what they thought about the topic - a vote which wasn't binding.
Here lies the first thing that pisses me off - $122 million?! Are you kidding me? $122 million to print pieces of paper to ask the Australian population for their opinion which may or may not be taken into account. Let that sink people. How stupid is does that sound? I look at our health, educational and transport system and think "Wow, $122 million could have gone towards making those systems a bit better and really helping people" but no, the Government chose to spend the money on this.
The second thing that annoyed me was that the plebiscite legitimised the start of a hurtful campaign against the LBGTI community. Leading up to now, they already had to put up with so many years of abuse just because they loved someone who, in the eyes of some politicians and religions, they shouldn't. Think about it - these people were essentially denying the right for someone to be loved. Everyone wants to be loved - who the heck has a right to say that you do not deserve love???? I think that homosexuality or "hidden homosexuality" could be a big underlying cause of suicide and mental health in the world and I have no doubt that this debate would have contributed to this as well. So much hate came out - it was really disgusting to witness.
I just wanted to be clear however that I respect that people have differing opinions on this topic - which is fine - but don't let the differing opinions lead to violence and hatred. That is what disgusted me. In some aspects I voiced my opinion on the topic which was pretty much that there was no logical reason to say NO to marriage equality but I didn't go out and incite violence against those who did not agree with me.
So, the people voted YES, and then came the lawmakers and lobbyists who started to put forward an argument to allow those who did not agree to marriage equality to get around anti-discrimination laws! Yea - they wanted it to be legal to discriminate against the LGBTI community because they didn't agree with who they loved. Um I'm sorry but doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of having anti-discrimination laws in the first place? Thank goodness the politicians pretty much said "That ain't happening".
Now - marriage equality is legal. As it should be. As it should always have been. But here is the other thing that pisses me off. The politicians who didn't have balls to just make a decision, are now seen as celebrating and happy that they got it done! They're taking credit for something that they really shouldn't be taking credit for - it's the Australian people who voted YES who should be taking the credit because THEY made it happen. I barely watch news on the TV and when I do, I get so irritated by listening to the segments on politicians because it annoys me that they always dodge the question and that they are in this game for one thing - their ego. They're not in this game to help people. It is precisely this that makes my blood boil.
The people who supposedly run our society "to our benefit" are clearly not doing it. Instead of focusing on topics like health, education, the elderly, etc, our news is full of "Is this politician really Australian". Are you kidding me?! This is who we have voted to run our country and society?
Today I sit here with the news on seeing all of the politicians celebrating the historical moment yesterday in parliament and seeing interviews with the prime minister and the opposition leader singing praises about this day. I actually had to switch the TV off because of the obvious hypocrisy of the situation - it reminded me of a person's boss or team leader taking credit for something that you actually did and not them. We are so lacking integrity in this day and age it is really sad to see.
However, I have hope. The fact that the people got together to make this moment come to fruition really does say a lot. It's about the power of the people, and it is about love. If only we could come together for the major topics and work towards love than things would change - things would have no choice to change. What happened in Australia is proof of this. As above and so below - so let's take this movement forward people, and bring peace and love to the entire world.