Is Australia Ready for Marriage Equality?

Australia has been in favor of marriage equality for long, but several conservative governments have been delaying an inevitable change in the law.

Australias High court recently ruled that a national postal vote on same-sex marriage will occur. However, several advocates challenged the Courts decision by arguing this would be an unnecessary and expensive use of public funds.

On August 8, 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the national vote after another attempt to pass his preferred plebiscite, which failed in Australia's senate. Now ballot papers will be mailed to households across the country on September 12, beginning a two-month voting period.

The question will be simple: Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?.

Unlike a plebiscite which is mandatory under Australian law, the postal vote is voluntary and is not legally binding. This means that the result doesnt necessarily require legislation to go ahead. However, the results will certainly have a strong symbolic effect, and it politics, that matters.

Is Australia ready to say yes to reform its Marriage Act?

Recent polls have shown that almost 63% of Australians already support same-sex marriage, while 30% expressed being against the reform. While it is expected that the Government will spend approximately $98 USD million dollars of tax-payers money to run the postal survey, for LGBT Australians the vote could open the window for a change to officially recognize marriage equality in the country.

Leadership has changed, a deciding factor that could favor the vote

Australian leadership has changed and that could have a strong effect in the upcoming votes result. After the Courts decision, Prime Minister Turnbull came out openly to the Australian Parliament by affirming he and his wife would be voting yes, and would be encouraging others to vote similarly. Other political leaders such as Attorney-General, George Brandis, has confidently predicted that same-sex marriage will be legal "by Christmas", expecting a few more twists and turns along the way.

Meanwhile, the Australian Christian Lobby, one of the main opponents to same-sex marriage, said the vote will be a referendum on freedoms and radical sex education in schools, an anticipated move by Australian demagogues.

It is time for change

Australian Olympic legends such as Ian Thorpe, have quickly come out in massive communication campaigns in support of same-sex marriage. "I think it's when we have this kind of recognition in marriage equality that young people can feel that and we start to get rid of all of those layers of discrimination the LGBTIQ community can face." said Thorpe to AAP. Now it is the opportunity for many other opinion leaders to ensure that the wish of the Australian people in support for marriage equality is reflected in the results of the survey.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the institution that will be running the survey, has confirmed the result will be published on November 15, 2017.

Although marriage equality is not an overnight cause. This has been the foremost political struggle for gay rights over decades. Theoretically, the rights of a minority group should never be decided by the majority. However, Australia and its people will not be disloyal to its own LGBT citizens. The argument that LGBT people are still second-class citizens is no longer acceptable in 2017. From all around the world, we know Australians can get this done.