Something worth fighting for....
Hello again, I hope the world is smiling on you, wherever you might be and all is looking good. As many of you must have done, I have watched the political posturing surrounding the same sex marriage legislation making its way through the Australian political system. For those of you who are not aware of what's been happening, some months ago, the Australian government bowed to public pressure and started to look at the whole issue of same sex marriage. Fairly early on in the proceedings, two camps quickly formed, the 'YES' campaign who felt it was time for all Australian citizens to be able to marry whoever they loved and the 'NO' supporters who clearly felt this was a terrible idea which could have a lasting impact on Australian life. Throughout the following months, both sides did everything possible to influence the general public, most of whom didn't seem wildly motivated as they were understandably more concerned about their own lives, so who someone else was marrying didn't hold quite the same importance as how they were going to feed their children. Anyway, for reasons best known to themselves, the government spent an absolute fortune - over $100M AUD - on a postal vote, which both sides of the debate agreed was a total waste of money. The ballot papers went out, they came in again, votes were counted and the 'YES' camp won.
I think, as a spectator, it seemed to me, most of the population were just relieved the whole saga was over and they could go back to watching TV without numerous advertisements, either proclaiming allowing same sex marriage was akin to welcoming the Great Plague such would be the devastation, or a virtual plethora of rainbow flags, fluttering behind someone intensely talking about equality. But, as is often the case with political shenanigans, the end of the postal vote meant the beginning of lengthy parliamentary debate, so once again, headlines were dominated by either one side or the other attempting to make the others look bad. The 'NO' people, having lost the postal vote, tried everything, for example, how children were going to now be somehow corrupted if the law was passed, citing the 'fact', schools would soon be the haven of sequinned-clad drag artists inciting the young to be wicked - ( as an aside, I would have absolutely LOVED that when I was at school, definitely preferable to spending hours attempting algebra). When that argument didn't seemingly take hold with anyone other than the most homophobic, they tried religion. Now as regular readers know, I do not have a deep religious belief myself, but I have read a fair amount on the subject, so when it was mentioned just how horrified Jesus would be at the idea of these 'sinners', I couldn't help but question their knowledge of the man. After all, he is well known for spending time with those people the society of the time considered 'wrong', prostitutes, tax collectors etc There's also a fair amount of talk about him feeling love should be the motivation behind everything, so it's debatable whether he would have found SSM such a terrible concept.
So while the 'NO's were predicting us all going to hell if this legislation was passed, the 'YES's were equally outspoken, their arguments ranging from how 'backward' Australia was when it came to SSM, to somewhat recklessly demanding everything should be gender neutral. While this fierce and sometimes ugly debate went on, the politicians talked..and talked..and talked. When the legislation was finally being seriously debated, with every camera lens upon them, some politicians unashamedly seemed to revel in the spotlight. We had speeches about every possible aspect of the debate, some politicians spoke with great emotion - on both sides of the argument - obviously with genuine sincerity. Whereas there were others ( again on both sides), who became almost Kardashian-like when the focus of attention was on them. Speaking personally, this group were definitely the most ridiculous, in their attempts to appear 'gay friendly', while sporting rainbow socks, ties etc...so we were treated to anecdotes about how they had a gay friend once, how their pet rabbit had shown homosexual tendencies but they hadn't judged...and, my personal favourite, the shifting uncomfortably as they tried to imply they had once found a member of their own gender attractive. On the other team, we had those who suddenly seemed to want to tell the world just how 'holy' they were, we had Bible quotes, we had a whole heap of 'fire and brimstone' speeches about how Australia would descend into a world of sin and degradation ( no doubt this would have encouraged tourism had it been true !) Oh, if they were to be believed, the plagues which fell upon Egypt during the time of Moses would look like a mild dose of the flu compared to what would be unleashed if the SSM Bill was passed.
After what seemed like weeks, but was in fact only a few days, the Bill was passed and scenes of jubilation dominated the headlines. We had weeping politicians waving rainbow flags, we had everyone kissing everyone else, while those who had once opposed the whole idea, were attempting to claim the credit for the whole experience. Now, you might be wondering why I am writing about all this, well, it reminded me just how hard people had fought for the right to be treated equally, even though they were in the minority, they made themselves heard. This is obviously not a new concept, after all, the Civil Rights movement in the USA, led by amongst others, Dr King, needed to keep marching, make speeches etc before the majority finally took notice of their message. Sadly, back then many lives were lost in the struggle for equality, even during this recent SSM debate, there were reports of violence between the factions. But despite everything, the desire for equality remained the focus and I do find that fighting spirit, inspiring when faced with my own, obviously infinitely less world-changing struggles.
I think we all have occasions in our lives when we have to 'fight' for something, when we are faced with either running away and giving up or taking on the problem. As JFK once said, "We aren't doing this because it's easy, we are doing it because it's hard," and I think that's how we should all try and be, if whatever it is means enough, you have to fight for it. Although I did hope the SSM law would be passed, I had to respect some of the more sincere 'NO' campaigners, as even though they must have known they were likely to lose, they fought for their beliefs without resorting to trading insults with the opposition. I hope they can take some comfort in knowing, they were, at least, true to themselves unlike some others within Parliament, who switched sides as often as the wind blew, depending on who they saw as potentially winning the argument.
Some things are worth fighting for...they might not always be headline-grabbing, but that doesn't make them any less important...so, I hope you keep going, however hard it might appear, and I promise you..I will too......until the next time...
Take care out there xx
I think, as a spectator, it seemed to me, most of the population were just relieved the whole saga was over and they could go back to watching TV without numerous advertisements, either proclaiming allowing same sex marriage was akin to welcoming the Great Plague such would be the devastation, or a virtual plethora of rainbow flags, fluttering behind someone intensely talking about equality. But, as is often the case with political shenanigans, the end of the postal vote meant the beginning of lengthy parliamentary debate, so once again, headlines were dominated by either one side or the other attempting to make the others look bad. The 'NO' people, having lost the postal vote, tried everything, for example, how children were going to now be somehow corrupted if the law was passed, citing the 'fact', schools would soon be the haven of sequinned-clad drag artists inciting the young to be wicked - ( as an aside, I would have absolutely LOVED that when I was at school, definitely preferable to spending hours attempting algebra). When that argument didn't seemingly take hold with anyone other than the most homophobic, they tried religion. Now as regular readers know, I do not have a deep religious belief myself, but I have read a fair amount on the subject, so when it was mentioned just how horrified Jesus would be at the idea of these 'sinners', I couldn't help but question their knowledge of the man. After all, he is well known for spending time with those people the society of the time considered 'wrong', prostitutes, tax collectors etc There's also a fair amount of talk about him feeling love should be the motivation behind everything, so it's debatable whether he would have found SSM such a terrible concept.
So while the 'NO's were predicting us all going to hell if this legislation was passed, the 'YES's were equally outspoken, their arguments ranging from how 'backward' Australia was when it came to SSM, to somewhat recklessly demanding everything should be gender neutral. While this fierce and sometimes ugly debate went on, the politicians talked..and talked..and talked. When the legislation was finally being seriously debated, with every camera lens upon them, some politicians unashamedly seemed to revel in the spotlight. We had speeches about every possible aspect of the debate, some politicians spoke with great emotion - on both sides of the argument - obviously with genuine sincerity. Whereas there were others ( again on both sides), who became almost Kardashian-like when the focus of attention was on them. Speaking personally, this group were definitely the most ridiculous, in their attempts to appear 'gay friendly', while sporting rainbow socks, ties etc...so we were treated to anecdotes about how they had a gay friend once, how their pet rabbit had shown homosexual tendencies but they hadn't judged...and, my personal favourite, the shifting uncomfortably as they tried to imply they had once found a member of their own gender attractive. On the other team, we had those who suddenly seemed to want to tell the world just how 'holy' they were, we had Bible quotes, we had a whole heap of 'fire and brimstone' speeches about how Australia would descend into a world of sin and degradation ( no doubt this would have encouraged tourism had it been true !) Oh, if they were to be believed, the plagues which fell upon Egypt during the time of Moses would look like a mild dose of the flu compared to what would be unleashed if the SSM Bill was passed.
After what seemed like weeks, but was in fact only a few days, the Bill was passed and scenes of jubilation dominated the headlines. We had weeping politicians waving rainbow flags, we had everyone kissing everyone else, while those who had once opposed the whole idea, were attempting to claim the credit for the whole experience. Now, you might be wondering why I am writing about all this, well, it reminded me just how hard people had fought for the right to be treated equally, even though they were in the minority, they made themselves heard. This is obviously not a new concept, after all, the Civil Rights movement in the USA, led by amongst others, Dr King, needed to keep marching, make speeches etc before the majority finally took notice of their message. Sadly, back then many lives were lost in the struggle for equality, even during this recent SSM debate, there were reports of violence between the factions. But despite everything, the desire for equality remained the focus and I do find that fighting spirit, inspiring when faced with my own, obviously infinitely less world-changing struggles.
I think we all have occasions in our lives when we have to 'fight' for something, when we are faced with either running away and giving up or taking on the problem. As JFK once said, "We aren't doing this because it's easy, we are doing it because it's hard," and I think that's how we should all try and be, if whatever it is means enough, you have to fight for it. Although I did hope the SSM law would be passed, I had to respect some of the more sincere 'NO' campaigners, as even though they must have known they were likely to lose, they fought for their beliefs without resorting to trading insults with the opposition. I hope they can take some comfort in knowing, they were, at least, true to themselves unlike some others within Parliament, who switched sides as often as the wind blew, depending on who they saw as potentially winning the argument.
Some things are worth fighting for...they might not always be headline-grabbing, but that doesn't make them any less important...so, I hope you keep going, however hard it might appear, and I promise you..I will too......until the next time...
Take care out there xx
