DONATE

Australia facing same-sex "marriage" legislative threat this month!

Threat returns after being stopped last year. MassResistance helping activists.

POSTED: October 9, 2013

The threat of same-sex "marriage" being forced on society by radical politicians has come back to Australia with a critical vote coming up this month.

This is in addition to the upcoming "gay marriage" vote in Hawaii on Oct 28 and the Illinois Legislature re-convening for a vote on Oct. 22.

And MassResistance is working with activists in all of these areas!

Attempting to use local parliament and courts to circumvent national law

As we reported over a year ago in September, 2012 the Australian National Parliament voted overwhelmingly to defeat the "gay marriage" bills in both houses despite months of heavy lobbying by the homosexual movement, including parades, speeches, and political pressure. (Among other things, a copy of the MassResistance booklet had been delivered to every member of Parliament.)

Officially, this meant that the federal government controls the definition of marriage and that "gay marriage" is officially banned in every Australian state.

But in late August it was revealed that the legislature in Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) intends to vote on "gay marriage" bill on Tuesday, Oct. 22. The Australian Capital Territory is similar to Washington DC in the US.

Like the Australian states, the Australian Capital Territory is technically under the laws of the National Parliament. But there is a fear that if the ACT passed its "gay marriage" bill, a High Court case to challenge the legality of it could go terribly awry (as courts have done in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Iowa, and with DOMA and Prop 8 in the US Supreme Court). The ACT's special status could also affect the court proceedings. Already, there are reports of other Australian states preparing to schedule votes if the ACT putsch is successful.

Pro-family base slow to react

But since this isn't a "direct" and obvious threat it is harder to get the grassroots going for this than it was last year when it was being voted in the National Parliament. There is some debate in pro-family ranks as to whether this is a real threat because it "should" be defeated in the courts if it passes in Canberra. But a number of leaders feel that this is a genuine threat that must be stopped before it gets into the courts.

Canberra politicians confident that "gay marriage" will happen

Top officials in Canberra have told the press that they expect "gay marriage" to be legal in ACT by the end of the year - that it will win in the ACT Legislative Assembly and that it will be OK'd by the country's High Court or else voted in by the National Parliament.

ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell has gone even further. On Sept. 19 he held a press conference inviting same-sex couples from other Australian states and even from overseas to get "married" in Canberra as soon as the new law passes.

But vote looking very close

Right now, the vote looks very close. According to activists and others we've spoken with, the 17-member Legislative Assembly is currently a slim 9-8 in favor of "gay marriage." There is a strong feeling that if churches and others there and across the country were to become activated and put the heat on the politicians, it could be stopped. That's basically what happened in the National Assembly, which had been teetering toward "gay marriage" but ultimately backed down and it was overwhelmingly defeated.

Pressure on to mobilize and push back

Thus, the pressure is on to get as much good, motivating information into Canberra and across the country as soon as possible, and to get activists, pro-family groups, and churches immediately activated. Australian pro-family people are generally less active and politically oriented than in the US, but in extreme situations people do get going. And there are some very, very good pro-family leaders there who are dedicated and tireless workers. We hope the next few weeks will be bring success in this regard. It's been done before and can happen again. We will keep you informed.