Open Access Repository
The aftermath of marriage equality in Australia: Religious freedom and LGBTQ+ non-discrimination


Full text not available from this repository.
Abstract
Marriage equality is a recent achievement in Australia, passing the Parliament on7 December 2017 and receiving royal assent the following day. Australia is the26th country to recognise same-sex marriages, following what activists calledthe ‘long march toward equality.’1 Internationally, formal same-sex relationship recognition first started gaining momentum in the late 1980s, followingfrom the gay and lesbian liberation, and, later, LGBTQ+ rights movements.2Broadly speaking, the various strands of these movements can be cast into threecategories: first, legalising same-sex sexual activity; second, the introduction ofanti-discrimination measures, including anti-discrimination law; and third, legislating for the recognition of same-sex relationships, either as marriages or someother state-recognised union.3 Tasmania was first to formally recognise same-sexrelationships in Australia with the introduction of the Relationships Act 2003(Tas), which came into effect on 1 January 2004. With this, the tacit assumptionthat marriages in Australia must be comprised of one (cisgender, heterosexual)man and one (cisgender, heterosexual) woman was increasingly challenged. Thus,to eradicate any doubt as to which couples may marry according to Australianfederal law, the Howard government introduced the Marriage Amendment Bill2004 (Cth), which restricted the union to one man and one woman, and passedwith bipartisan support from both major parties (the Australian Labor Party andthe Liberal Party of Australia). This bill came into effect as the Marriage Amendment Act 2004 (Cth) on 16 August that same year.
Item Type: | Book Section |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: | Richardson-Self, L and Fielder, B and Ezzy, D |
Keywords: | same-sex marriage, LGBT, religious freedom, postal vote |
Publisher: | Routledge |
DOI / ID Number: | 10.4324/9780429021589 |
Copyright Information: | Copyright 2020 The Authors |
Related URLs: | |
Item Statistics: | View statistics for this item |
Actions (login required)
![]() |
Item Control Page |