Yes to a referendum on gay marriage

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 5 May 2013

At last, a politician talking sense on what to do about pressure on state and federal governments to introduce same sex marriage laws. Independent MP Tony Windsor has suggested the matter be settled by the public on election day in September, through a referendum.

With the gay lobby unimpressed that both the federal parliament and the Tasmanian parliament have now rejected proposed same sex marriage laws, a federal referendum seems a fair if expensive way to resolve the issue.

Many Christians support the idea, as do Christian Democratic Party leader Fred Nile and the Australian Christian Lobby.  ACL spokesperson Lyle Shelton said that if the arguments were presented in a balanced way, “there would be every chance that people would stick with what has been the status quo for millennia.”

The biggest opponents of a referendum on same sex marriage are leaders of the gay lobby, who fear the people’s voice will not favour their cause.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.