The debate over same sex marriage in Australia has been re-ignited by news that some members of the federal governing Liberal/National Party (LNP) coalition are proposing, contrary to their party’s policy, to introduce legislation in Federal Parliament this coming week to redefine marriage to extend it to same sex couples. In particular, press reports today indicate that a new Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 will be introduced, one feature of which is that it contains legislative protections for religious freedom, designed to encourage support of the legislation by believers. In my view the protections to be provided, if press reports about the proposal are accurate, are far too few and far too narrow, and the proposal cannot be seen as providing adequate protection for this fundamental human right.
The drafters of these latest proposals are to be commended for correctly recognising that religious freedom will be challenged if the definition of marriage is changed to include same sex relationships. But their proposed protections are far too narrow and apply in far too few areas. Indeed, outside the confines of the actual ceremony (which as we have seen is itself not adequately protected), there are much wider issues which will follow such a change, which can only be mentioned briefly here. Will there still be robust freedom of speech protection for believers to express their views, based on their deep religious convictions, that same sex marriage is not a good idea? Will religious schools be able to continue to teach children who are sent to them by parents who want their child to have a religious education, what those views are? Will employees be sacked for holding the wrong views? These and other issues need serious discussion before changes of this sort are made. All this points very clearly to the people of Australia being given a chance to make an informed decision in the promised plebiscite, rather than the matter being rushed through Parliament with the support of those who have chosen to ignore their party platform.
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