Conscience Vote

  

This lovely poster hangs on the door of the office of one of the heads of house at the school where I work.  When I mentioned to him that I liked the sentiment, he shared that part of his job at this boys’ school was to try to reduce some of the homophobia present, not only for a human-rights reasons, but to make those boys who are same-sex oriented or curious to know they are okay, and this teacher is a safe person to come talk to about it.  

My school follows a Jesuit Catholic education philosophy.  The current pope, also a Jesuit, has made a few statements in the press that some have interpreted as being “in favour” of gay marriage, but what sound to me more like a willingness to accept LGBT Catholics within the fold without including them fully in Catholic life in which they also acknowledge having sexual relationships.  Nevertheless, Pope Francis’ stand seems to me to be a more open stance than the ones taken by his predecessors.  The pope aside, I found it encouraging to see this poster, and I wish this teacher well in his efforts.  I haven’t seen or heard any overt homophobic remarks while working here, but in a boys' school with such a strong emphasis on sport, I could guess how if one didn’t fit the mould how lonely it could be.  In case anyone is interested, I found the website listed on the poster (and the organisation that supports it) to be incredibly well-organised and supportive.  I wish every LGBT teen could have access to such a supportive place, either in person or online.

Australia does not recognize gay marriage, although it recognizes same-sex (and opposite-sex) domestic partnerships.  If you register your partnership with the government, you are afforded some financial and social rights even without marriage.  The big exception is adoption, which is only legal in some states.  New South Wales (where Sydney is), Tasmania and Western Australia allow same-sex partners to adopt.  Victoria (where Melbourne is) allows single LGBT parents to adopt, but not to file a joint petition to adopt. 

Marriage rights are considered a federal issue, not a state issue.  Right now, Parliament is debating holding a conscience vote on gay marriage.  States have tried to pass gay marriage acceptance laws in recent years, and these have been narrowly defeated on the grounds that it needs to be dealt with on a federal level.  I am assuming once same-sex marriage is legal, full parenting rights would also have to be acknowledged.  

Other federal issues relating to LGBT citizens have already been decided.  Same-sex partners are allowed to be treated as spouses for financial reasons – taxes, inheritance, access to each others' retirement funds or veterans benefits.  They are allowed to sponsor same-sex partners for immigration purposes, with the same requirements for proving a legitimate relationship as opposite-sex couples or married couples.   They are allowed to make medical decisions for their partners.   On Australian passports, it is possible to apply for a designation of indeterminate gender rather than stating you are male or female, or to change your gender legally from one to the other.

Domestic partnerships are quite common here.  People refer to their “partners” all the time, both same-sex and opposite-sex, and it raises no eyebrows.  When I first moved here, I assumed anyone with a “partner” was in a same-sex relationship, but here this is a poor assumption.  Sometimes even married folks refer to their spouses as their partner rather than their husband or wife. 

When Ireland recently voted to make same-sex marriage legal, much of the commentary I read from ordinary Australians (not the official government line) was outrage, not that the measure passed, but that Australia was being left in the dust clinging to old-fashioned values and being outdone by Ireland – Ireland!  This little puny country that is more forward-thinking than us!  (Please, Irish people, forgive me.  This is not my opinion on Ireland, just what I was reading others saying in the papers.  Australians rarely mince words when it comes to their opinions of various ethnicities, but that’s another blog post). The party in power, the Liberal party (which is not lower-case liberal), does not support gay marriage.  The opposition party, Labor, does support gay marriage but also supports the right of its MPs to vote their conscience on the issue.  It’s surprising to me that with all the rights that LGBT citizens already have in Australia, that marriage is still a sticking point.  I am very interested in seeing the result of the conscience vote when it occurs.