Australia, I’m sorry I doubted you.

Sitting here, as a young, queer Australian, I struggle to find the words to express what I’m feeling. Our country will now join the ranks of many other democracies around the world, like New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Taiwan and Germany, in recognising the equal right of marriage in the eyes of the law. We are witnessing a landmark historical moment in the progression of LGBT+ rights down under. The pessimist in me can’t help but question how amazing this victory really is. Most of us LGBT+ advocates argued from the start that the postal survey was a waste of time; that the $122 million could be better spent in housing, education, or health. It was already evident from so many opinion polls that most Australians supported marriage equality, and all this survey result does is confirm what we knew. As if that wasn’t depressing enough, the challenges aren’t over yet. With the emergence of last-ditch delay tactics like the Paterson bill (which has been criticised by religious leaders and Cabinet ministers alike) the final outcome of marriage equality remains uncertain. So why does this feel so good? That’s easy. It feels good because we know that Australians care enough about marriage equality to vote in a poll that was designed to discourage participation. It feels good because we know that with such public support behind our cause, the attempts to delay marriage equality are futile. By next year, thousands of couples around Australia will be planning, or having, their own weddings, sharing the celebrations of love that their friends and family have enjoyed for so long. It feels good because we know that this victory will send a decisive and concrete statement to people across Australia that love is love. Every single state voted for yes and ours, WA, was the third highest of them all. 89% of electorates returned a yes majority. Over 60% is no small feat. I’ll be honest and say I did prepare a blog post to use in the case of a “no” majority. Looking back, all I can think is — Australia, I’m sorry I doubted you. In the advent of social media and the increasing tendency for politicians to exaggerate the views to pander to extremists, it’s no wonder we’ve started to lose faith in those proud Australian ideas of openness and laid-back tolerance. What we often forget is that the people we hear on radio, the people we see on screens and the Twitter eggs we interact with, aren’t often a true reflection of the country we live in. The silent majority, so often trumpeted by the conservative side of politics, spoke out loud and proud with a resounding ‘yes’. Against expectations, they opened their envelopes, filled out their surveys and traipsed to their nearest mailboxes. The high turnout is a testament to Australians’ commitment to equality, particularly young Australians who, unfortunately for the Liberals, actually can post letters. It’s a testament to the overseas Australians who made an effort to lodge a yes vote. It’s a testament to the thousands who made phone calls, delivered flyers and donated, including some of my close friends who worked so hard as part of organisations like Students for Marriage Equality. So yes, this is an amazing victory. The road here has been a hard and challenging one for many of us, but against all the odds we united as a community and as a country to achieve a big win for all Australians. As young people, gay, straight, bi, ace, trans and everything beyond, we can go out into the world knowing our country has our backs. That’s a pretty good feeling.

#News #Politics #Marriage