This has been a classic example of the media purporting to know what Middle Australia thinks.
I am not going to get into a religious discussion about this. Whatever you believe, you believe and if you don't believe gays should marry, that is your right. Unless it's because of blind hatred in which case you're just an idiot who shouldn't be allowed to breed.
Anyway.
The front-pageiness of this entire story is so dubious I just had to have a go. We already have a really good idea what Middle Australia thinks and apart from Big Brother-watching teenage girls, Middle Australia either a) doesn't give a toss b) doesn't want them marrying or c) holds a belief that they shouldn't marry.
How do I know this? John Howard has seen fit to fairly brutally and brazenly crush the ACT laws, swiftly advising the Governor General (who it seems has the constitutional power to roll Territory laws) to bin the law.
He hasn't shown an inkling of understanding, hasn't pretended that he cares about the issue, he has stuck to the family values line and pushed on. The public are largely not talking about this despite the media pushing it as hard as it will go.
Predictably the ABC and SBS have gone hammer and tongs just to make sure and rounded up every gay-friendly member of parliament to say their piece. Without bothering to ask they've done the usual trashing of the Family First guy. This brings me to another point - the media love an independent only if they're a screaming leftie or a jackboot fascist. The media has made up their own mind on this bloke and expect us to follow along.
At no time has the media attempted to educate the Australian people about what this law is about. Whether your gay or straight, atheist or Christian (or whatever), allowing these relationships to be recognised is probably a good legal thing. Many of these relationships are stable and loving whether you like them or not and if they end through death or 'divorce' there should still be protection for both parties. These are the only people in our society where a partnership is not enshrined in law.
I don't believe in gay marriage and it is a contradiction in terms. Gay activists love appropriating heterosexual traditions to try and fit themselves into a society that is often extremely unwelcoming of difference.
When you choose to gay, and for many it is a choice, you choose to participate in a minority and have to live with what that means. Instead of trying to educate and encourage difference, minorities often try and make themselves fit.
This bill was about wedge politics, a way to start levering themselves into a position where adoption of children, access to IVF etc. will become a right. A right they want despite choosing not to be a part of the way things work biologically speaking.
I think the ACT bill should not have been crushed but the endpoint that the gay lobby were after was the reason it was enacted in the first place. If you find that unpleasant, I'm sorry. The religious argument will have to come another day.
The media beat this thing up because the media has a powerful sense of sympathy towards the gay community because so many in the media are gay or have close friends who are. It has been hysterical, ridiculous and in many ways ignorant of the beliefs of those who opposed the eventual intent of the law. And it wasn't good enough. The media is supposed to report on what is going on, not try and shape our views to their own personal ends.
That's what blogging is for and rightly so.
technorati tags:ACT, gay, marriage, law, overturned, middle, australia, australian, politics
Blogged with Flock
No comments:
Post a Comment