Council Condemns Change to Civil Unions

Michael Cope, President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, said today, "The Council condemns the government’s proposal to amend the Civil Partnerships bill to remove the right to a public ceremony and replace it with a form of registration as a hollow sham and an insult to gay and lesbian couples”

Mr Cope said: “It is the Council's view that gay and lesbian couples in loving relationships should be given the same status as heterosexual couples in such relationships. One of the fundamental aspects of marriage, which distinguishes it from simply living together, is the public declaration of commitment before not only friends and family but the entire community”

The Council recognises that State Parliament does not have constitutional power in the area of marriage but was of the view that the current legislation went as far as the State Parliament could.

“The mere right to register their relationships deprives gay and lesbian citizens of their fundamental right to equal treatment before the law.”

Mr Cope went on to say: “Religious tradition cannot stand in the way of the demand for equal protection before the law. If it could, monarchs would still be ruling by divine right.”

It is often argued that marriage and similar relationships are in fact about having children, and those who cannot have children should not be allowed to marry or form similar relationships. This is a fallacy. Of course, not all couples can have children, and not all couples intend to have children. Divorce is not compulsory on the basis that a couple is infertile. People are allowed to get married on their death bed.

Nor is the reverse true. Being able to procreate cannot be a prerequisite to being able to raise children, otherwise we would ban in-vitro fertilisation and other forms of assisted reproduction.

“Additionally it has now been clearly shown that gay and lesbian parents are as effective as heterosexual parents in raising children, and children are not harmed when raised in same-sex couple households”, said Mr Cope.

“Many people”, Mr Cope said, “argue the case for not extending marriage to gay and lesbian couples as if marriage were an immutable institution. It is not. Wives used to be treated as the property of their husband. Until twenty-odd years ago, rape within marriage was lawful in Queensland.”

Michael Cope says: “The Council of Civil Liberties supports the extension of the rite of marriage to gay and lesbian couples. In the end the Commonwealth Parliament needs to act for there to be true equality.”