Hi, I received this email today and thought that some of you may want to sign the petition. I read your discussions each week and also wanted to thank you for your honesty and insight.

Dear friends,

We’ve done the research and it’s a landslide. A GetUp-commissioned Galaxy poll last weekend reveals a whopping 71 per cent of Australians, including 63 per cent of Coalition voters, believe same s-x* couples should have the same rights as heteros-xual couples in de facto relationships.

These results should make all Australians proud. Yet on Friday, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission released its year-long inquiry into same s-x discrimination which reveals that discrimination remains ingrained in 58 pieces of federal legislation. From superannuation and workers’ compensation to Medicare, tax and pensions, Australians are treated like second-class citizens purely on the basis of their s-xual orientation.

Right now our politicians are deciding how to respond to these damning findings. This is our urgent opportunity to tell them it’s time to wipe this discrimination off the books forever by giving legal equality to same s-x couples.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/EqualBeforetheLaw

Australians want their friends, family and colleagues in same s-x relationships to have the same rights as other citizens. One piece of legislation, redefining de facto legal status, can start us firmly on the path towards greater equality.

Sometimes change can only happen when the people lead. And we will. GetUp’s poll found majority support for equal rights extends across every demographic, across every region, across every political party in the nation. Tell the politicians it’s time they caught up to the people that voted them in.

Put your name to the petition calling for equality now – and please share this campaign with all your friends. You can be sure that at least 70 per cent of them will thank you for it! You can also support this campaign by donating here.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/EqualBeforetheLaw

Thanks for being part of this,

The GetUp team

Don’t be afraid to throw in your two cents worth on discussions eaither my friend, the more the merrier! 😀

yes welcome sparrow and thanks for posting this. I’ve received so many emails about it. its wonderful to know that it is doing the rounds so much.

maybe the timing is right.

Here’s my 2 cents worth on the Getup vote… thought I share it with you guys… I read it again and though darn I forgot to include christian elements which has its own discriminating factors. 😳

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/EqualBeforeTheLaw&id=29

As a taxpayer, please do end the discrimination for us to access what is entitled to us. It isn’t about christian values or family values. Its about ending a frustrating period in our lives where we can have equality. My partner is from an era where Gay do not marry or walk down the street holding hands or kissing in public. But the hetrosexuals do it all the time. I won’t have that with my partner but I would like to see our young ones liberated from this era where they can feel good about themselves and have the right social support from the community and its government. Its not alot to ask for… really, apart from asking the Government to drop their arrogant pride and give us a chance to feel normal. Perhaps then we wont have to parade as much as we have been. Hmmmm

Craig Maynard

Comment anyone? 😯

Let’s face it, social and ecinomic rights for gay people are a logistical nightmare for the government. As homosexuality is not a psyciatric disease any longer and Australia’s constitution is based on a seperation between religion and politics (at least in theory) one of the main contributing factors preventing the Governemnt from legalising gay marriage is because it will redefine the whole concept of marriage and people will abuse it for tax benifits, health care and so on. It’s cheaper to live as a married couple in Australia than to live as a singer person. Your going to have best friends marrying, roomates, neighbours, imigrants who want a visa. I know its pathetic, but its fact. It happens enough in heterosexual marriages if we open them up who knows what will happen! Marriage will not be defined by its traditional boundaries as a sutible environment to bring up children (and this change to me is a needed one, marriage is so much more than that!). Marriahe will in essence be a social agreement based sometimkes on love, sometimes on children, sometimes on tax benifits and sometimes on a green card! It’s obvious to see that this is the reason the governement has not leaglised gay marriage, ‘commitment ceremonies’ are endorsed, its the rights that come with marriage that are the stumbling block, not so much a social stigma against gay people.

This of course doesn’t mean that what the government is doing is right, but again lets face it, one day gay people will have marriage rights worldwide, if western countries can legalise abortion then they can certainly legalise gay marriage, both were seen as criminal and to some still are, times change, politics change, the concept of rights and obligations change. All it takes is time.