Marriage, the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life (Australian Government, 2015) .This definition is from the marriage act of 1961 and is still Australia’s legal standing what marriage is. But why should marriage, the most formal and committed act of love be reserved only for that of heterosexual couples? Good morning/afternoon everyone and welcome to this conference. Today I will be discussing the issue of Legal Recognition of Marriage Equality in Australia. Although often seen as a political issue, marriage equality is in a fact a moral, ethical and social issue that we are face today and is important as it deprives so many Australians from formally announcing their love for each other.
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The current law states that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, although the government is working to change that. Labor Leader Bill Shorten, introduced a bill to parliament proposing to change the definition of marriage from “the union of a man and a woman” to “the union of two people”. Thus including couples of all sexualities in the privilege of marriage. Mr Shorten gave a speech on the Labor party’s perspective on marriage equality he says “We say to all young gay people: we are proud of you, for who you are. You belong." (Ireland, 2015) Regardless of whether or not the Labor government truly supports marriage equality, a factor that may affect their perspective is that majority of the Australian population supports marriage equality (72%) and because the Liberal government is so reluctant on passing the bill, it may be a way to gain support for the next election. Another stakeholder in the issue is, quite obviously the LGBT …show more content…
Direct from the Catechisms it states that “Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are…homosexual practices”. The Catechisms also state that “homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life…Under no circumstances can they be approved.” (Catholic Church, n.d.) They key points of perspective to consider here are that homosexual acts are of grave depravity, disordered and are contrary to the natural law and prevent reproduction. Recently America legalized gay marriage in all states, Pope Francis commented on the issue saying “he would tolerate some same-sex civil unions, though not marriage”. Some interesting information is that the Catholic Church is not more accepting of divorce “There are cases in which separation is inevitable,” Francis said. “Sometimes, it can even be morally necessary.” (PBS Newshour, 2015) Which although may not be shock when heard today but if we recall the scripture of Catholicism, divorce is direct violation of Catholic teachings. So in relation to the Catholic Church if our opinion on divorce has changed through history because of changing values and beliefs then we can certainly achieve the same acceptance for marriage equality. Another religious perspective on the issue, quite
The current law states that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, although the government is working to change that. Labor Leader Bill Shorten, introduced a bill to parliament proposing to change the definition of marriage from “the union of a man and a woman” to “the union of two people”. Thus including couples of all sexualities in the privilege of marriage. Mr Shorten gave a speech on the Labor party’s perspective on marriage equality he says “We say to all young gay people: we are proud of you, for who you are. You belong." (Ireland, 2015) Regardless of whether or not the Labor government truly supports marriage equality, a factor that may affect their perspective is that majority of the Australian population supports marriage equality (72%) and because the Liberal government is so reluctant on passing the bill, it may be a way to gain support for the next election. Another stakeholder in the issue is, quite obviously the LGBT …show more content…
Direct from the Catechisms it states that “Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are…homosexual practices”. The Catechisms also state that “homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life…Under no circumstances can they be approved.” (Catholic Church, n.d.) They key points of perspective to consider here are that homosexual acts are of grave depravity, disordered and are contrary to the natural law and prevent reproduction. Recently America legalized gay marriage in all states, Pope Francis commented on the issue saying “he would tolerate some same-sex civil unions, though not marriage”. Some interesting information is that the Catholic Church is not more accepting of divorce “There are cases in which separation is inevitable,” Francis said. “Sometimes, it can even be morally necessary.” (PBS Newshour, 2015) Which although may not be shock when heard today but if we recall the scripture of Catholicism, divorce is direct violation of Catholic teachings. So in relation to the Catholic Church if our opinion on divorce has changed through history because of changing values and beliefs then we can certainly achieve the same acceptance for marriage equality. Another religious perspective on the issue, quite