Gay Marriage and the Politics of Division

As in the United States, Australians are embroiled in a debate over the rights of gays to marry.Unfortunately the debate - as is also the case in the U.S. - is politically motivated with the election in Australia due later this year. 

With the Bush administration seeking to exploit the gay marriage debate for its own political advantage in the US Congress, it is hardly surprising to find Australian Prime Minister John Howard jumping on the anti-gay bandwagon for the same cynical purpose. As the Bush administration attempts to change the constitution to limit legal marriages to those between a man and a woman, in Australia an attempt by the government to launch a similar debate has begun with the Australian election due before the end of the year.

In a classic display of wedge politics, the Howard government has proposed that the Marriage Act be amended to ban marriages between same-sex couples a situation that already exists, as gay marriage is not recognized under Australian federal law. As the proposed amendment only seeks to preserve the status quo, the ruling Liberal government has been accused of political cynicism by igniting the debate with the sole intention of dividing the Opposition Labor party on the issue.

The proposal has caused outrage among many gay rights groups. According to Iain Clacher, editor of Queensland Pride newspaper, Australia needs to have real debate, not some cheap pre-election stunt. Gay advocate Rodney Croome said in an article in Bnews, In the past, conservative governments have tried to win political advantage in the lead up to an election by demonizing less than popular minorities and splitting their political opponents.

The Australian Democrats, who along with the Greens are expected to vote against the issue in the Senate, have condemned the move with spokesman Senator Brian Greig accusing the government of being out of touch with the rest of the world on gay rights.

"Political leaders in Canada, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and an increasing number of States in the USA are generating sensible debates about same-sex couples and their children, and passing equity laws to protect the best interests of those families.

"By comparison, Australias leadership has been immature and reactionary. As a community we need to acknowledge the existence of same-sex relationships

In a surprising and controversial move the Opposition Labor party, in an attempt to defuse the issue, has supported Howards proposed amendment. The move has caused dissent among Labor ranks though with left-wing backbenchers arguing the proposed amendment contradicts Labor party policy that no one should be discriminated against on the grounds of their sexuality. The dissenting backbenchers have said that it is political suicide for the Labor party to be seen to be backing down on its principles so close to the election. Recently elected Leader of the Opposition Mark Latham has found himself in the middle of a political minefield with the very real risk of alienating a significant number of voters whether his party supports the amendment or not precisely the outcome PM John Howard would have hoped for.

Criticizing the Oppositions decision to support the amendment Greens Senator Kerry Nettle said, In trying to out 'Howard' Howard, Mr Latham appears to be willing to flirt with prejudice against the gay and lesbian community [he] has spoken of the importance of leadership in building community values, but he has failed in this instance to show leadership in dispelling discriminatory views regarding the lesbian and gay community.

Latham, in an attempt to placate members of his left faction, has reiterated his call for bi-partisan support for the amendment but suggested a compromise plan where gay couples can be adopted from overseas. However Dr Carmen Lawrence, president of the party and de-facto leader of the left has dismissed the plan calling for her colleagues not to confuse politics and principles. Senator Bob Brown, Leader of the Greens has described the Labor partys proposal as homophobic.

Political ploys such as these practiced by our major parties against members of minority communities run the very risk of alienating not just the minorities themselves but in a very real sense, progressive voters sympathetic to the communities cause. The eventual result may be the further drift of voter support away from the traditional parties to smaller fringe parties such as The Greens and the Australian Democrats. Unless the Liberal and Labor parties can see the electoral risk implicit in their cynical political point-scoring, Australian voters, already deeply cynical of politicians, will exercise their democratic right and register their disapproval at the politics of division.

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