After Australia voted YES to the Liberal’s Marriage Law Postal Survey, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced the positive result on November 5, 2017.
Five years ago today, Australia voted YES.
A bill to legalise same-sex marriage passed both houses of parliament and received royal assent on 8 December 2017. More than 3000 same-sex couples took their vows over the following six months. By the time of the 2021 census, over 20,000 same-sex couples had joined together in matrimony.
Australia voted YES and the sky didn’t fall in
Despite dire warnings from the No campaign, the sky did not fall in. Australia suffered no unexplained cataclysmic events.
Eric Abetz, newly crowned head of the Australian Monarchist League claimed back then people would want to marry the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Never happened.
According to Abetz’s fellow Liberal, Senator Cory Bernardi, same-sex marriage would lead to people wanting to marry their pets.
Again, never happened. I’m sure if it had, the happy couples would have posted vids to TikTok.
The sky will fall in argument is not new. It follows in the proud tradition of people who hurled human sacrifices into volcanoes to placate angry gods. Later, supposedly pious parishioners burned witches for much the same reason.
This is very simple. Since time immemorial, some people thought every one else needed to adhere to their personal beliefs. They instituted laws and decreed cruel punishments to bend the populace to their will. Throughout history, bigots fought every single move towards democratic societies where everyone enjoyed equal rights and freedom to make their own choices.
The sky falling in, the retribution of a wrathful god, and the end of civilisation as we know it, became their go-to arguments.
Since Australian federation, they used the same arguments against allowing women the vote, mixed bathing at the beaches, divorce, cinematic nudity, the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and countless other issues.
They were wrong every time. But they can’t stop. What option do they have without factual argument?
Despite them, Australia voted Yes.
For the latest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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