Editorial: Time for marriage equality

The issue of marriage equality and giving gay couples the right to legal union has been the focus of strong debate again in recent weeks.

Same-sex marriage was put back on the agenda when, earlier this month, Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten introduced a Bill to Parliament to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia, saying now was the time to deliver equality to all couples and ensure everyone was treated the same in the eyes of the law.

It garnered even more attention when a Canberra couple raised eyebrows by announcing they would divorce if same-sex marriage was legalised.

There is strong opinion in the community about same-sex marriage, evidenced by the response to a question on the Albany Advertiser Facebook page, which attracted more than 130 comments in less than 24 hours this week (Faceoff, Page 7).

Reading through the responses and listening to recent public debate, there seems to be overwhelming anecdotal support for a change to our marriage laws.

Many other countries have already taken the step to allow gay couples to tie the knot and pressure is mounting on the Australian Government to do the same. For most, the issue is not a matter of rights, it’s just something that should happen.

Most religious people recognise they should not cast their personal views onto other people’s relationships, but religious beliefs still sometimes cloud debate.

For far too long, we have let religion and Governments determine who should and should not be able to wed.

This is an issue for love, not for religion.