ALHR Newsletters

Anyone following the news would scarcely have been able to avoid the noise on the gay marriage debate, which has reached thunderous levels in the lead up to the ALP national conference which is currently underway.
 
Pressure on Federal Labor stepped up a notch after the Queensland Parliament passed legislation allowing Civil Unions, which led to rapturous applause from the 150-strong crowd in the public galleries. The legislation allows same-sex couples to register their relationship with the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages brings Queensland into line with laws already in existence in NSW, Victoria, ACT and Tasmania. However it still falls short of the full recognition of same-sex relationships that will only come with full marriage equality.
 
While not going far enough, these hard-won steps are still important to defend. Yesterday the Queensland LNP indicated it would roll back the Bill if elected, which highlights the need to remain active and not take even small gains for granted.
 
In that spirit, I encourage you to add your voice to the current GetUp campaign to put pressure on ALP delegates to the National Conference to alter the Party's platform.
 
There has been some lively commentary circulating around the papers and the internet, many of which members have posted in the ALHR Facebook group. I particularly enjoyed an article by Senthorum Raj in New Matilda, who made the point that the notion of marriage has been constantly changing over decades and longer. This is good news, for example, for female parties in a marriage who can no longer forced to give their husband "conjugal rites".
 
If you are on Facebook I encourage you to join the conversation.
 
And, if you are not on FaceBook, while I respect you may have strong feelings about allowing Mr. Zuckerberg?s invention to take over your life as well as that of all your friends, I would value your presence and contributions to our daily conversation on the group site. We are currenly working on a new ALHR website which will include more opportunities for member input and interaction.