It's Not Just Gay Marriage

If you have been living under a rock recently (I would not blame you if you have, there are some pretty nice rocks out there) you may not have heard that the Supreme Court of the United States of America (SCOTUS) legalised same-sex marriage in all 50 states. That is a really awesome step towards equality and it sends a message to the new generations that same-sex relationships are normal and deserve the same treatment as heterosexual ones. However, there has been one large oversight by many who report on this milestone in LGBT+ history.

Source: https://secularpolicyinstitute.net/oklahoma-house-oks-bill-for-ministers-to-refuse-gay-marriage/

A lot of the headlines have contained some variation of the following: "Gay Marriage Legalised". While it may be true that gay couples can now marry it does not mean that only gay people can get married. The legalisation of same-sex marriage opens up the door for people of all sexual orientations to get married. While it may be 'gay marriage' it is also "bisexual marriage", "pansexual mariage", "queer marriage", "skoliosexual marriage" (people attracted to those who are not cisgendered [someone who is cisgendered identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth]) or, as I like to put it "Marriage". Really, it is just widening the definition of the term "marriage". It is not like people have gay breakfasts (though they are really fun) or bisexual luncheons (again, an interesting concept), people just have breakfast or attend luncheons. By referring to something simply as "gay" or "bi" it really narrows the definition of the thing it describes. It really is just a new definition of marriage where same-sex couples can now have more of the same rights that heterosexual couples have (we are still working on some aspects (such as adoption in Victoria which a same-sex couple can not do)). To be perfectly honest, in Australia at least it is not even a new definition of marriage but rather, if Tony Abbott decides to do his job and support the majority view of Australians, returning the definition to what it originally was. Until August of 2004 same-sex marriage was not illegal in Australia. In August the Liberal Government of the time led by John Howard passed a bill that made same-sex marriages illegal. I am seeing a bit of trend with the Liberal Government which, given its name, is a very ironic party.

The message of this post is really that we should not narrow the definition of something by labeling it as "gay" for example because it really excludes a lot of people to which it also should refer to. Hopefully when it comes time for Tony Abbott to decide whether or not to allow his party a free vote (where they do not have to vote along party lines) on the same-sex marriage bill next month he has the strength to make the right decision for Australia. Not the right decision based on his own minority beliefs. I could have a whole post full of my disappointment for Tony Abbott but it doesn't take long to find if you Google his name (although I have already done this for you so just click here to see it). 

It's time our Prime Minister finally did his job. See you soon.