Postal vote is the latest attempt to block marriage equality
11 August 2017
This week's announcement of a postal plebiscite on same sex marriage is only the latest attempt by the Federal Government to block marriage equality, according to leading human rights expert Professor Paula Gerber.
"This announcement comes on the heels of a UN finding last week that Australia breached human rights law by refusing to allow a same-sex couple married in Canada to get divorced here," says Professor Gerber, a Deputy Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash Law School.
"And in March of this year, the UN found that Australia breached the rights of a married trans woman by refusing to allow her to change her gender on her birth certificate, because her marriage would then become a same-sex marriage."
"It shows the Government's confusion on this issue - generally, it is preventing same sex couples from marrying, but sometimes it's preventing them from divorcing, and it's even preventing some trans people from changing their legal gender on the grounds it would create a same sex union."
"All of this could be resolved if our government took a human rights approach aimed at ending legalised discrimination. If it did that, we would have equality in marriage, in divorce and for trans people generally."
Professor Gerber also takes issue with the proposed postal plebiscite.
"It will have all of the failings of a full plebiscite and some additional ones as well. Like the full plebiscite, it will unleash an unnecessary and hateful campaign that will be harmful, especially to the mental health of LGBTI youth and their families, and we are already seeing bigoted commentary increasing in the media. But, on top of that, the results will be skewed," she says.
Research by the ABC's Antony Greene into the last voluntary mail in ballot - conducted for the 1997 Constitutional Convention election - revealed that older people were far more likely to vote than younger people.
"Australians over the age of 65 are the only demographic group where a majority isopposed to marriage equality, yet this proposed model will almost certainly over represent their views," says Professor Gerber. "Considering technological advances since 1997, we could expect an even more skewed result this time around."
"More importantly, human rights belong to everyone. It is unacceptable to allow the majority to decide whether or not a particular minority get to have their human rights. We would not tolerate voting on whether interracial couples can marry, or whether a person with a disability can marry an able bodied person."
"So we should not be accepting that it is okay for Australians to vote about whether LGBTI people can marry. The Parliament has the authority and responsibility to recognise the human right to marry, and legislate for marriage equality now."
Have you moved house? Or not enrolled to vote? Make sure you have your say.
Australians not already on the electoral roll will have until Thursday 24 August 2017 to register with the Australian Electoral Commission. You can enrol to vote or update your details on the AEC website. If you've moved since the last election, let the AEC know. Ballots will be sent out from Thursday 12 September 2017.
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