Another push for same sex marriage

#1080 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 31 May 2015

As Ireland and Greenland this week voted in favour of same sex marriage, the question on many lips is: “When will the inevitable change come to Australia?”

If federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has his way, it will be soon, with Mr Shorten expected to introduce a bill to legalise same sex marriage in federal parliament tomorrow.

Opponents of same sex marriage have rolled out their well-worn arguments once again, saying:

• marriage has been understood as a man-woman union since the dawn of time;
• changing the meaning of marriage would be a vast, risky social experiment;
• children have the right to know and be cared for by their natural parents;
• research shows that kids generally do best with both a mum and a dad;
• and the love felt between two men or two women is different from marriage.

Amid the emotion and hype, those principled arguments deserve the consideration of every federal politician.

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