I am really getting sick and tired of people making an issue of same sex marriage. I mean really? What the hell is wrong with some people? Here’s the deal. If two people love each other and they really want to get married then let them.
I have been married to my darling wife a long time. My darling wife says she’s been married to me a long loooong time. Every couple regardless of their gender, be they straight or gay deserves to say the same thing about their partners after nearly 30 years.
Religion has hijacked this debate and they are way out of line in doing so. Why? Because unless I am mistaken, marriage is not certified by a church, it’s certified by the state.
If you marry in a church, mosque, synagogue, temple, registry office, and Elvis Chapel, on a beach or under a tree, the one thing they all have in common is that the ceremony is not legal until a marriage certificate is signed and witnessed. That marriage certificate is a statutory document that is then registered with Births, Deaths and Marriages.
In the years we have been married anytime we had to show proof that we were together in matrimony we had to produce that statutory document. We never had to show proof that a priest performed the nuptials. We had to produce the Marriage Certificate. A document required by the state.
So bearing this in mind, what the fuck is the problem? It’s not the church. Look we all know what the churches are on about. They don’t recognise same sex marriage, the last time I looked, the Catholic Church wouldn’t even let divorced people re-marry. The other faiths also have their own beliefs and values and I can handle that. As long as they don’t try to hijack proceedings and ram their value systems down our throats.
The thing is that at the end of the day, legally, you cannot be married unless you have a marriage certificate. A registered marriage celebrant can sign off and witness it just as well as a priest, imam, rabbi, pastor can. So if you want to escape the rules of the churches, go to a celebrant.. Right?
WRONG!…. And this where I start yelling at the televison.
This is where it all falls apart. You see, it’s no big deal that a church won’t recognise same sex marriage. In an ideal world you’d just say “stuff you padre” we’re going to a registry office. Unfortunately, the real serious issue here is that its THE STATE that’s discriminating against same sex couples. If two people of the same sex wish to have a wedding ceremony they are not allowed to sign a statutory document that shows they are married.
It’s against the law to sexually discriminate against people in the workplace, in cafes, public transport etc and yet it seems the statutory body that is still allowed to discriminate against gay couples is the department that issues Marriage Certificates.
You’d think our politicians would see that and fix it right? Wrong!!!
They are shit scared of the church. They are shit scared of the Christian Lobby despite the fact that we are supposed to be a secular society. I like Julia Gillard. She’s doing a sterling job as PM. Tony Abbott is doing a magnificent job not being a PM but their individual conservatism on this issue astounds me when you consider the PM is single and atheist and the Leader of the Opposition once bragged that in university he was a piss-head and shagged anything that moved. I mean who the hell are they to judge who can and can’t get married???
So at the end of the day, what needs to happen here is to make it legal so that anyone can get married and have a statutory marriage certificate. The issue here is not the church that is discriminating, it’s the state.
New Zealand have recongnised it and I say good on them. I’m thinking of packing my bags and heading over and forming a wedding band. Me thinks there are going to be a lot of Aussies heading over there looking for some wedding action <imgsrc=”” alt=”?” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;”>
