Australian Senator says gay people shouldn’t get married because they’re not monogamous
An Australian Senator has said that same-sex couples don’t deserve marriage because they aren’t monogamous.
Family First member, Bob Day, argued that same-sex couples shouldn’t be allowed to marry because they don’t fully commit to their partners.
Speaking in the Senate chamber during the marriage equality debate, Mr Day, said: “In places where gay people, typically men, have been able to form recognised unions, they don’t necessarily equate their commitment to monogamy.
“The term “monogam-ish” has been coined, a sort of “open marriage”, a tautology if ever I heard one in this brave new world.”
The Senator then went on to describe gay men only having one partner as “unrealistic and unnatural”.
“This monogamish compromise is nothing short of surrender,” he said. “As usual, all the guarantees about marriage staying the same have come to naught.”
Yesterday, there were two more votes to try and move forward on equal marriage (one by Labor and one by the Greens), however both failed due to the Coalition’s opposition.
Mr Day continued that allowing same-sex marriage would open the door to polyamory (the idea of a relationship having more than two partners) and would affect parenting.
“Why would redefining marriage stop at same-sex relationships? The bill talks about two people, but why not three?” he posed as a question to the chamber.
“Already birth certificates around the country are being written to say parent one and parent two,” he continued.
“There is no such thing as parenting. There is only mothering and fathering.”
The issue of marriage equality continues to be fiercely debated in the Senate chamber with Labor, the Liberal Democrats and Greens trying to force a vote that would allow for the federal Marriage Act to be amended to allow same-sex marriage.
Opponents continue to stand in the way despite polls showing almost two thirds of Australians support marriage equality.
