Her Culture Bi-Monthy Magazine August/September 2015 | Page 28

“I think everyone deserves the right to marry
whom they love as long as both of them are on
the same page and have consented to it,” said
Bella Fitzpatrick, an Australian student currently
pursuing Bachelor of Laws, who believes the
Labor Party’s bill will be passed through
Australian Parliament next month.
Australia’s leading political party, The Liberal
Party, also seems to disagree with same-sex
marriage. Recently, senior Liberal government
minister, Eric Abetz indicated that legalizing
same-sex marriage would open up a “Pandora
Box” of other types of marriages, including
polyamorous unions, according to The
Guardian. This would indirectly cause the
definition of marriage to fall apart and lead to
severe consequences.
However, other members in this party are
choosing to heed Abetz’s comment and are
supporting same-sex marriage laws instead.
The polls have indicated that 70% of Australians
are ready to legalize same-sex marriage.
Furthermore, independents, whom typically
control the legislative power in the Australian
Senate have said that if other countries with
political systems similar to Australia, such as
New Zealand can legalize same-sex marriage,
Australia can to. Therefore, the Liberal Party
faces a possibility of losing the next election if
they don’t listen to their voters’ voices on this
important issue.
Australia is a secular nation, with Section 116 of
its Constitution highlighting no religious test or
force shall be “required as a qualification for any
office or public trust under the Commonwealth”.
While it doesn’t cover the topic of same-sex
marriage, it becomes pretty clear that Australia,
as a secular nation, must separate its political
parties and peoples’ religious beliefs from the
state in order to fully uphold itself as a secular
nation. Other nations have and Australia,
hopefully, will too, next month when the bill for

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same-sex marriage is contested in Australian
Parliament.
Sana Dadani, an American student currently
pursuing journalism and anthropology at New
York University believes that same-sex marriage
should be legalized to foster tolerance,
acceptance and transcendental love in
communities. “Some religions might not
support homosexuality but they all teach us
love, tolerance, respect and acceptance. We
are all God’s children,” she said. “If it comes
down to m