Marriage Equality. Why is yours better than mine?

As if this wasn't/isn't reason enough!

I wrote this piece two and a half years ago. I remember friends telling me at the time "Don't worry, this is all going to change within the next year. Yep, give it a year Matt and this will all be apart of history."

Nothing has changed and its now two and a half years...


I have never been one to sit on the fence, don’t ask me why this is, I have just always had an opinion. This is not to say that my opinion is always right, I mean after all, an opinion is just that.

It was my Oma who always told me to “never sit on the fence. No good has ever come from someone sitting on the fence, because at some point the fence will crumble." It was words like this that gave me a strong sense of ones opinion(s) and their importance in life. Very wise and very true words that I carry with me today.

In recent times many “traditional” opinions have been challenged and subsequently changed, whether by law, religiously, ways of thinking or plainly in peoples hearts. Think of the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement and even the way people treat their beloved pets. All things that have gone through drastic change and more importantly, education and a mind set over haul. It brings me to a massive issue that is sweeping the world at the moment, marriage equality.

Now I am not going to harp on about the inequalities that these archaic and unfounded laws pose for gay people and their right to live their life the way they see fit, but I will say that I am hugely disappointed at groups like the Christian lobby and their unrelenting smear campaign against the gay community. I mean what ever happened to “Love thy neighbor” ? I thought that a truly religious person is not meant to judge? Maybe I am wrong. Then again, who am I to judge?

You see, gay people pose NO threat to society in any way what so ever. We (yes, I am one of those very people) do not start wars, we do not form gangs and terrorise people, and I am sure the crime rate amongst gay people would not be surprisingly low. What we do is, pay our taxes (like you and the rest of the country), we love like you do, we hurt like you do, we love our country like you do, we love our friends and family like you do and yes, some of us even have faith like you do. It is time that people stopped fearing us and treated us with the same rights that the rest of the country has, the same rights that we go to vote at the polls with like you and the same rights that protect the country we live in, just like you. I guess you could say, we really are just like YOU.

Please look past the rubbish that is being thrown around at the moment and find it in your heart to see that we too, have a right to love the one we love and should we so desire, marry that special person. I truly believe that my beautiful country, the country that has welcomed people from ALL over the world, will recognise Marriage Equality. Isn’t that what Australia is all about, equality for ALL of its citizens?

#Marriageequality for all!