"Australia Lawmaker Cites Polyamory Risk in Blocking Gay Marriage"

Gay-marriage legalization elsewhere has inspired supporters inside Australia's conservative government to quietly renew their efforts to add Australia to the list of marriage-equality countries. But their plan was leaked and blew up. The public is in favor, but Prime Minister Tony Abbott's arch-conservative Liberal Party is strongly opposed, and party discipline under the parliamentary system is severe.

The government's central argument is that gay marriage will lead to polygamy and polyamory. This seems to get more traction in Australia than in America, as I've reported before.

Here's a summary:

Australia Lawmaker Cites Polyamory Risk in Blocking Gay Marriage

Momentum toward legalizing same-sex marriage in Australia is stalling after a senior government minister said his lawmaker colleagues wouldn’t support changes to the Marriage Act as they could lead to polyamory.

...Employment Minister Eric Abetz said in a Sky News interview Thursday, “If you undo the institution of marriage by redefining it for the latest movement or the latest fad, you will open a Pandora’s Box for all sorts of other potential possibilities,” including marriage between more than two partners.

The stance of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s government comes after reports that lawmakers from his own Liberal Party were banding with rival parties to draft legislation to legalize same-sex marriage. The so-called Private Members’ Bill would only be considered by Liberal lawmakers should it be voted on in parliament, which was a “rare” occurrence, Abbott said.

...Abbott, a former trainee Jesuit priest who in 2010 said he felt “a bit threatened” by homosexuality, is out of step with public opinion in Australia.

A poll last June showed almost three-quarters of voters want the law to be changed. Among them is his sister Christine Forster, who is gay, who told Fairfax Media on May 25 the government should bring on a vote to stop the issue from becoming a “political football” at next year’s election.

...The push for same-sex marriage in Australia gained renewed momentum after Ireland’s May referendum vote in favor of it. Google Inc., Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Qantas Airways Ltd. were among companies that took out a full-page advertisement calling for marriage equality.

The effort by some Liberal lawmakers to prevent passage of same-sex marriage law threatens to open up divisions in the government. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who backs marriage equality, said in May that Australia was the “odd one out” among nations including the U.K., New Zealand and Canada....

The whole article (July 1, 2015).

Polyamory was the only piece of awfulness that Abetz could cite when asked on TV news what would fly out of his "Pandora's Box." Video clip: Abetz links gay marriage and polyamory (July 2). He looks nervous.

And here's TV personality Tim Fergusen saying "Well look, I've got to say, I know a couple of polyamorous little clans, perfectly happy, they all get along, it's all very modern, it's just that Friday night there's a shedule." And he explains how polyamory differs from polygamy (July 3).



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