Like an ageing stegosaurus with a pair of sprained ankles, Australia is very slowly and lethargically limping towards marriage equality, while the rest of the world is having an endless cavalcade of beautiful and deeply gay wedding because, in this metaphor, whatever dinosaur they are isn’t fucked.
Where we are currently is the majority of the country saying “hey man, do this thing pls” while a handful of extremely vocal far-right, religious wingnuts ask if that thing will lead to dog marriage. It sucks ass and, rightfully, we’re not happy with it.
Tonight, ‘The Project‘ decided to weigh in on the “debate”. Using the man who hit Qantas CEO Alan Joyce in the face with a lemon meringue pie as an entry point, they talked to people on both sides about whether the issue needed to be discussed in a more “civil” manner.
Primarily, this involved Australian Christian Lobby director Lyle Shelton and radio host / grumpy contrarian bastard Steve Price whining about how opponents of marriage equality were being treated like monsters just because they don’t see gay relationships as equally legitimate as straight relationships. How heartbreaking.
The subtext of the piece was that, despite this being a hot button issue, we need to treat everyone involved with equal respect and politeness. This did not go down super well.
The problem here is that the word “debate” presupposes two opposing ideas of equal merit, with it being possible to determine which one is the ‘correct’ idea through logical discussion – but that’s not what the push for marriage equality is. A group of marginalised people asking for the same rights as everyone else is not only as valid as the minority who object to the idea of them having equal rights due to their sexuality.
A “debate” not only requires similarly rigorous ideas (which, frankly, your personal religious beliefs do not count as), it also presupposes equal respect between parties. If opponents of marriage equality are incapable of acknowledging even the basic humanity of gay people, then there’s no way they could ever respect their arguments.
This country doesn’t need a more civil debate, it needs homophobes to get out of the way and let Australia catch up with the rest of the world.
The segment didn’t make it to their social media pages, but you can
view it here from around the 32:30 mark.
Source and photo: The Project.
