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Why voting YES is important
Rona Goold
Civil Celebrations Advocate

There are many reasons to vote YES
YES to our Family, Friends, Work Colleagues, Fellow Australians who serve their communities
  • Same sex attracted individuals have parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, (at least 5:1)  and friends and work colleagues (10:1)  
  • If 5% of Australia's population are people who wish to marry someone of the same gender as themselves, then 25% of us as Australians have a family member who is same sex attracted.
  • If we add work colleagues and friends, them 50% of us as Australians, have at least one friend or work colleague who is same sex attracted.
  • If we add all those Australians who are look after by professions (doctors, nurses, teachers, police, fire workers, welfare workers, military, etc) and those in the trades (electricians, plumbers, mechanics, builders, waste-disposal, etc), then we are talking about up to 100% of us as Australians will be helped by a person who is same sex attracted.
  • It is estimated that 3,000 Australian teenagers die each year due to fear of the lack of acceptance of their sexuality within their families and communities, and to disrespectful behaviours (including bullying) by others in the communities.
YES marriage equality is personal ..
  • what if the person is your son or daughter, uncle or aunt, cousin or friend,?
  • work colleague or someone you assists you to have a better life?
So YES offers respect and tolerance to those we love and to all Australians 
YES for The Rule of Law
  • The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey is simply about civil law, not religious law.
  • Marriage is a civil legal contract under Australian Commonwealth law that takes precedence over religious law. 
  • Some religious beliefs have different standards to the basic requirements for marriage in Australia
 So YES upholds the rule of civil law as the fundamental basis of our Australian civil society 
YES to Fairness

The Australian Marriage Act allows people from all other groups to marry whether this is by
  • Country of birth - Overseas born people can marry in Australia
  • Citizenship - Overseas citizens can marry in Australia
  • Language - Non-English speaking people can marry in Australia
  • Economic status - Rich and poor people can marry in Australia
  • Religion* - people of religious faith or none can marry in Australia
  • Residence - people living in other countries can marry in Australia
  • Same gender couples - can marry in Australia
  • and this list could go on . .
The only group of people not allowed to marry in Australia are people whose gender is the same as the person they wish to marry.
So YES make the Marriage Act fair to all couples and all individuals who wish to marry people of the same sex.
YES for Equal Access under Law

In Australia, marriage is a civil legal contract under Commonwealth law, regardless of couple's religious and other beliefs about marriage.
Beliefs and attitudes are not necessarily based upon facts - rather upon what people think is true and what they feel is important (i.e. opinions). 
In a nutshell, allows same sex attracted people to enter  all sorts of legal contracts such as those related to:
  • leasing or purchasing a home or vehicle or some other product or service
  • owning or running a business
  • employment
  • obtaining an education 
So YES gives same sex couples the same legal rights as any one else to enter a legal marriage contract.
YES to Uphold Anti-Discrimination laws

Basic requirement for civil marriage under the Australia Marriage Act 1961 are
  • Adult maturity - both people need to be 18 years or older to apply to enter this civil legal contract.  OR have court approval if one of the parties is between the ages of 16 years and over. No two people under the age of 16 years can marry in Australia. i.e. no child marriage.
  • Consent - both parties need to be capable of giving full and free consent i.e. no forced marriage by compelled by force, intimidation, or authority,
  • Exclusiveness - only two people can enter a legal marriage contract i.e. the law excludes polygamy (a man with more than one wife) or polyandry (a woman with more than one husband 
  • Gender -  Both sexes can marry, only if each party is of the opposite sex to the other
Australia has laws that make discrimination on the basis of gender illegal. Predominantly this has been to protect females from being treated badly, simply because of their gender.

However marriage law by its definition discriminates against the gender of one of the parties to the marriage. i.e. if one is male, the other person if male cannot enter that legal contract or  if one is female, the other person if female cannot enter that legal contract.

The Australia Marriage Act is silent on many aspects that have been raised in public conversations, because those matters are dealt with by other laws.

So YES removes discrimination against same sex couple.
YES to Freedom of Choice
  • Not every person wants to get married.
  • Individuals who may wish to marry someone of the opposite gender, are free to made that choice
  • Individuals who may wish to marry someone of the same gender, have no choice
So YES gives all adults, not just certain adults, the freedom to choose to marry or not 
YES to Accepting Difference
  • Allowing same sex couples to enter a legal contract called marriage, accepts that people are different
  • In multicultural Australia, tolerance of people's difference is essential to social harmony, provided people are willing to respect the human and civil rights of others

So YES increases our ability to be respectful and tolerant of others for the common good.
YES to Respect for Religious/ Ethical Belief
  • The Australian Marriage Act authorises 120 Recognised Religions  (22,882 ministers as at 15.9.2017) and approx. 500 religious organisations (524 ministers as at 15.9.2017) to also conduct marriages on behalf of the Australian government. This compares with 8188 independent civil celebrants and 293 state officers  (15.9.2017).

  • With over 70% of marriage celebrants in Australia being religious celebrants authorised under law, it is clear that religious tolerance is currently very generously practised by Australia. 

  • Such tolerance is one of United Nations Universal Declarations of Human Rights (number 30) as is the support for equal rights (number 16) as to marriage (only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses), during marriage and at its dissolution - read more.  

    Remember that Section 47 of the Marriage Act currently gives all religious celebrants the right to refuse to marry any couple.

  • The Senate Select Committee on Same Sex Marriage, comprised of different political party representatives, delivered a non-partisan consensus report which did not recommend removing this right for religious celebrants to refuse to marry couples.  
So YES maintains respect for those with religious faith and those with different ethical beliefs.
YES  to these Australian Values
  • Marriage Equality upholds  what most of us believe are traditional Australian values 
Fairness, Equality, Non-Discrimination, Rule of Law, Tolerance,
Respect, Freedom of Choice, Freedom of Religion/ Ethical Belief
= A FAIR GO