Bigotry slander abuse - what next?
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| Gay Couple with child (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The latest attempt to change marriage legislation by fatigue is in Noosa, where local resident Robin Bristow has taken aim at the Mayor and the CEO because they have declined to enter the same-sex marriage debate.
THE OTHER SIDE: SOAPBOX- IGNORE THE ADS, SAME-SEX COUPLE MAKE GREAT PARENTS
Mr Bristow claims this is bigotry and has promised to start a national campaign, including demonstrations outside council. He is quoted as saying, "get ready for the confetti, rainbow chalk and television cameras".
Noosa Council CEO Brett de Chastel has rightly pointed out to Mr Bristow that marriage is a Commonwealth issue, and the focus of the Noosa council is on local government issues they actually have jurisdiction over.
Apart from this issue being an inappropriate use of council time and resources, it is inappropriate for council to support any policy that requires a child to miss out on a mother or father.
And before someone accuses me of Helen Lovejoy syndrome, I'll come right out and say it - yes, we must stop and think of the children.
The undeniable truth is that redefining marriage will result in yet another group of children being deliberately removed from their parents as a result of government legislation.
Same-sex marriage advocates believe motherless children to be a desirable outcome. They are lobbying for boys to be raised without their fathers and for girls to be raised without their mothers.
Life throws lemons sometimes, and it's not always possible for children to be with their mother and father, but we must learn from past mistakes and refuse to make laws that will deliberately deprive children of their mother or their father.
There is no discrimination in Australian law against same-sex couples.
Well-known actor and gay activist Magda Szubanski said recently, "Only until about five or six years ago there was still about 87 pieces of legislation that discriminated against us, so the changes are really quite recent."
At the same time, the discrimination against the rights of children caught up in this debate is being recognised and opposed worldwide.
In France in 2013, hundreds of thousands protested in the streets to oppose same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption legislation, led by prominent homosexuals.
"The rights of children trump the right to children," was their catchcry.
A recent news article featured Heather Barwick, who was raised by two lesbians.
"Same-sex marriage and parenting withholds either a mother or father from a child while telling him or her that it doesn't matter. That it's all the same," she wrote.
"But it's not. A lot of us, a lot of your kids, are hurting. My father's absence created a huge hole in me and I ached every day for a dad."
There is no need for the definition of marriage to be changed. The onus is on Australian same-sex advocates to make the case for why redefining marriage will not adversely affect children.
Wendy Francis is Queensland state director for the Australian Christian Lobby
