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The Plebiscite for Marriage Equality

The front page of the Age yesterday had an article saying the Catholic church would threaten to fire employees in their schools, hospitals etc who marry their same sex partners. That's going to open up a can of worms for sure.
 
The front page of the Age yesterday had an article saying the Catholic church would threaten to fire employees in their schools, hospitals etc who marry their same sex partners. That's going to open up a can of worms for sure.
Catholic Church:

Same Sex Marriage = BAD
Protecting paedophiles = OK, AND WE WILL FIGHT TO KEEP DOING IT

They need to work their priorities.
 
They said on The Project that since this vote was announced, 68k people have enquired about registering to vote.
Here's some current data from the AEC:
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I think yes votes will get over the line, whether this information is actually used is another thing.

Incidentally, my Aunty is voting no quite unapologetically. She is definitely not out campaigning and wouldn't try to sway anyone else, but she is being very open about her intentions. Hopefully the only person in my family who is voting no.

Such a ridiculous system :(
 
It is interesting to see yes is the majority answer for all political parties and age groups. Even the One Nation supporters which are basically 50/50 is much more of their supporters than I expected. I hope it such an overwhelming yes that the pollies have to do something.
 
6 years ago I met my best friend. He is 30 years older than me, but I have never felt so much love from another human as I have from him. Yes, I am shit at relationships, and it's unusual, but he is my rock. He is a gay man in his 60's - we like the same boys and Tv shows. A year before I met him, he lost his partner - totally unexpected, in his 50's. His partner and him were well off, they bought a property together. His partner was in real estate so it was in his name even though they paid equal. But they didn't have a "legal" partnership. His partners family attacked him, saying the relationship didn't exist, and not only did he loose the money, his relationship was mocked and made to seem no existent. He lost all the money and had to start again. Voting no takes away people rights - it's cruel and unkind and uncaring; voting yes doesn't hurt anyone, except maybe Tony Abbot
 
It is interesting to see yes is the majority answer for all political parties and age groups. Even the One Nation supporters which are basically 50/50 is much more of their supporters than I expected. I hope it such an overwhelming yes that the pollies have to do something.
As they say in TV-speak it's winning all the demos. Even the 65+ age group, even though it's not an outright majority, Yes leads 49-47%
 
6 years ago I met my best friend. He is 30 years older than me, but I have never felt so much love from another human as I have from him. Yes, I am shit at relationships, and it's unusual, but he is my rock. He is a gay man in his 60's - we like the same boys and Tv shows. A year before I met him, he lost his partner - totally unexpected, in his 50's. His partner and him were well off, they bought a property together. His partner was in real estate so it was in his name even though they paid equal. But they didn't have a "legal" partnership. His partners family attacked him, saying the relationship didn't exist, and not only did he loose the money, his relationship was mocked and made to seem no existent. He lost all the money and had to start again. Voting no takes away people rights - it's cruel and unkind and uncaring; voting yes doesn't hurt anyone, except maybe Tony Abbot
My closest friend of 20 years took his own life five years ago. He left me his apartment in his will (I was Executor). His sister accused me of producing an old will and claimed he had made a new one with his lawyers. That was completely untrue (he didn't even have a lawyer, he used a 'write your own' will). She was just patently homophobic and pissed off that she was left out (he left everything else, super, life insurance etc to his mother). She was a complete bitch to me, totally disregarded our friendship (a relationship at one point). So yes, I get it.

Abbott can fuck right off. GetUp! is determined to get him unseated in the next election. That would be excellent.
 
Apparently Malcolm Turnbull will ne voting yes. Yhats good, but strange. Easy to vote yes when it doesn't count amd the cynic in me thinks he still gets to look like the good guy who tried. If he thinks it should happen then why not do more than an optional postal poll, like a referendum, or, you know, just do it.

It just sucks, I think of gay teens who are already navigating the total mindfuck of discovering their sexuality, and there is literally nothing to reassure them that it gets better when their rights are still being debated as though they are second class citizens.
 
Apparently Malcolm Turnbull will ne voting yes. Yhats good, but strange. Easy to vote yes when it doesn't count amd the cynic in me thinks he still gets to look like the good guy who tried. If he thinks it should happen then why not do more than an optional postal poll, like a referendum, or, you know, just do it.
He has always (at least claimed he) supported marriage equality. He does hold one of the gayest electorates in the entire country so it would obviously be in his interest. But cynicism aside, I think he is genuinely a supporter, but being held hostage by LNP's hard right.

Their right is just desperately clinging to the hope that they might yet get a No vote. Their view is that if they broke the plebiscite promise they would lose a bunch of hard right voters to One Nation and/or Corgi Barnyardi's party.
 
He has always (at least claimed he) supported marriage equality. He does hold one of the gayest electorates in the entire country so it would obviously be in his interest. But cynicism aside, I think he is genuinely a supporter, but being held hostage by LNP's hard right.

Their right is just desperately clinging to the hope that they might yet get a No vote. Their view is that if they broke the plebiscite promise they would lose a bunch of hard right voters to One Nation and/or Corgi Barnyardi's party.

Ah ok, I (somewhat embarrassingly!) didn't realise this but it does make sense. This highlights a lot of the problems with the system, but I guess he has to represent the party and is not simply just a sole representative.
 
My other issue with a postal vote - Australia Post. Australia Post is a joke, slow and inaccurate - I doubt it is better in other countries. Post in general is snail mail. It's redundant. Why are we using post in 2017 when we did our census last year online?

Yes, I had no idea how bad snail mail is now, and then I needed some express post things done......far out, I did an express post from WA, then flew home a couple of days later, I beat the post by 5 days.....how is that express?

And still they roll in:

AEC‏Verified account@AusElectoralCom 8m8 minutes ago
The electoral roll increased by 36,769 between 8 & 20 August. 434,026 enrolment update transactions also processed in this timeframe #auspol

Yeah but, that is a drop in the bucket......kind of pathetic response

But that means about 955,000 people were not enrolled to vote.

The 18 to 24-year-old demographic has the worst numbers on voter enrolment.

Nearly half of all 18-year-olds, and a total of nearly 350,000 young people, are not enrolled to vote.

Until we have changed the law - anyone in a gay relationship make sure you have an up to date will, and more......
I too have seen evil families blocking gay partners at the hospital, and out of the will......horrific stuff goes on, there are services in Melbourne will help sort your affairs for free.

A very, very beautiful older gentleman friend, his partner died suddenly will less, ghastly family took everything - and that was a rural property with the partners horses....so heartbreaking


So - how can we help ensure a YES vote?
Go to the rallies, help any yes campaign needing volunteers.
Where can I buy some rainbow flags??
 
In the end they said about 100,000 people had been added to the roll. But still only a fraction of those eligible.

If I was still working for my old boss he would have trolled me that he was going on the roll just so he could vote NO, because he is a prick. He loves Abbott. I was quite happy that he was not on the roll and had never voted because he'd have always voted Liberal, no question. So glad I am not still there and having to put up with his shit.
 
I was reading something today and it was saying that we need to look at the wording very carefully as they may try to trick us into voting yes, when in reality we are voting no. I am beginning to think that many will vote no purely on the perceived ambiguity of the wording. I want to vote yes for equality, but am scared that I'm going to be duped, if that makes sense.
 
I was reading something today and it was saying that we need to look at the wording very carefully as they may try to trick us into voting yes, when in reality we are voting no. I am beginning to think that many will vote no purely on the perceived ambiguity of the wording. I want to vote yes for equality, but am scared that I'm going to be duped, if that makes sense.
The wording of the survey is exactly the same as that proposed previously for the plebiscite:

"Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?"
 
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