The chairman of an Australian parliamentary committee that examined gay law reform said Monday that he believes lawmakers will maintain a ban on same-sex marriage when the contentious issue is voted on later this year.
...Committee chairman Graham Perrett, who has two gay brothers and supports gay marriage, said he does not believe a majority of lawmakers share his views.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, an opponent of gay marriage, will allow members of her center-left Labor Party to make personal choices on how they vote on the legislation. But opposition leader Tony Abbott, a staunch Roman Catholic, will insist that members of his conservative Liberal Party reject gay marriage.
Perrett, a Labor lawmaker, said he believes lawmakers would reject gay marriage even if Abbott allowed members of his party a free vote.
"My reading of it is that would not be the case" that gay marriage would be allowed, Perrett told reporters.
3 Comments
Good for you Australia.
Inevitability is starting to look decidedly green about the gills.......
The gay lobby's effort is far from over. I think even they knew the marriage amendment bills would not get very far. But this effort is a stepping stone for them and has given the marriage redefinition cause a lot of momentum in the last 12 months.
The battle goes on. And there's a good number of strong, traditional proponents of traditional marriage who are coming to the fore.