{"id":266190,"date":"2016-11-08T08:54:52","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T08:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=266190"},"modified":"2016-11-08T08:54:52","modified_gmt":"2016-11-08T08:54:52","slug":"australia-senate-stops-gay-marriage-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/11\/australia-senate-stops-gay-marriage-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia senate stops gay marriage vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">The Australian government&#8217;s proposal to hold a national vote on legalising same-sex marriage has been defeated in the upper house of parliament.<\/p>\n<p>The government said a non-binding ballot, or plebiscite, was the quickest way to amend the Marriage Act.<\/p>\n<p>Same-sex couples can have civil unions or registered relationships in most Australian states but they are not considered married under national law.<\/p>\n<p>Opinion polls indicate that most Australians support same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n<p>However opposition parties and many supporters of same-sex marriage argued a plebiscite would be expensive and could unleash a divisive campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, they say parliament should make the decision itself.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal&#8217;s defeat in the senate means the issue will be taken off the agenda at least until the next term of parliament.<\/p>\n<p>Marriage equality has proved a tricky issue for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. He is personally in favour of same-sex marriage but is reluctant to allow his own MPs a free vote on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>Labor Senator Penny Wong told parliament that, after much soul-searching, she had decided to oppose the plebiscite.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We do not want our families and our children publicly denigrated,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This hate speech is not abstract, it is real, it is part of our daily life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Greens Senator Janet Rice spoke about the challenges of her 30-year marriage to transgender woman Penny, who was once known as Peter.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We know that our same-sex marriage is just as important and valid and deep and wonderful and loving as our heterosexual one was,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;People&#8217;s human rights should not be subject to a popular vote.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"http:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/16BB6\/production\/_92301139_68efeb6d-3890-4d8e-bbf3-22d31447310d.jpg\" alt=\"Attorney-General George Brandis during the vote for the same-sex marriage plebiscite bill\" width=\"976\" height=\"649\" data-highest-encountered-width=\"624\" \/>Attorney-General George Brandis during the vote for the same-sex marriage plebiscite bill<\/span><\/figure>\n<p>Attorney-General George Brandis accused the Labor Party of &#8220;playing politics with gay people&#8217;s lives&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A vote against this bill is a vote against marriage equality,&#8221; Senator Brandis told parliament.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Those who claim to believe in marriage equality, but nevertheless, for their own cynical, game-playing reasons, are determined to vote against it, should hang their heads in shame.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Labor announced last month that it would not support the bill, condemning it to fail in the senate this week.<\/p>\n<p>The move was celebrated by same-sex marriage supporters who widely favour the issue being voted on by parliament, without the need to put it to the public.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Australian government&#8217;s proposal to hold a national vote on legalising same-sex marriage has been defeated in the upper house of parliament. The government said a non-binding ballot, or plebiscite, was the quickest way to amend the Marriage Act. Same-sex couples can have civil unions or registered relationships in most Australian states but they are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":266191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Australia senate stops gay marriage vote - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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