Human Rights Baby!!!

Just last week I was blogging about the decision of North Carolinians to place themselves on the wrong side of history. And in a delicious twist history decided to show up.

On the 9th of May, my homeboy, Barack Obama went ahead and confirmed what we had all assumed he believed all along:

It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.

While his words do not carry any legal weight and he has no intention to introduce federal legislation anytime soon, the simple fact of the most powerful man in the world affirming his belief in marriage equality is a big fucking deal!

It also has the effect of pushing same-sex marriage to the fore in this country and forcing our party leaders to voice their own views on same-sex marriage.

John Key:

I am not personally opposed to gay marriage.

Metiria Turei

Their policy is that same legal rights and responsibilities should apply to all couples regardless of whether that couple is gay, lesbian, transgender or heterosexual

Tariana Turia

she would support same-sex marriage on the basis that individuals and whanau had the right to choose for themselves whether or not to marry.

and this pathetic statement from David Shearer

I fully support marriage equality in principle but would like to see the detail of any legislation before giving formal support.

So the party leaders representing over ninety percent of the seats in the house support same-sex marriage. How come we can't get a cross party bill going? Step up John Key:

It's not my number one issue, that's for sure. That has been true of most of those conscience or moral issues. The previous Government had a lot of those on the agenda from prostitution law reform through to civil unions. We haven't had any and that's reflected that these are tough economic times and we need to spend our precious time in Parliament resolving those issues.

Fair enough I suppose, the government has limited time on it's and needs to focus on the really important issues, like the possible mass arrival of asylum seekers. Dickhead! If you have time for imaginary boat people, then you certainly have time for marriage equality.

Labour MP Louisa Wall has a Same-Sex Marriage bill ready to go in the members ballot so fingers crossed some time in the near future we can have an end to discrimination and equal rights for same-sex couples!

New Monbiot

The latest from George Monbiot:

The unbiblical and ahistorical nature of the modern Christian cult of the nuclear family is a marvel rare to behold. Those who promote it are followers of a man born out of wedlock and allegedly sired by someone other than his mother's partner.

We the people

As reported by the Guardian, the people of North Carolina have decided to place themselves on the wrong side of history.

A constitutional amendment has been passed by a vote of 61% to 39% defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Unfortunately the amendment goes further than that and will have consequences for all manners of domestic partnerships.

Overall the trend in the states is towards marriage equality but it may a little longer in coming for North Carolinians.

The Guardian's Ana Maria Cox has a great piece on the North Carolina amendment, the overall context and what it means:

There are no pink processionals crowding the streets of Durham, and while my St Paul neighborhood sees a lot of pairs of women pushing one stroller down the street, I have yet to be invited to the big "WE ARE UNDERMINING THE FOUNDATIONS OF YOUR MORALITY" party, which social conservatives seem to imagine taking place just out of sight. The fact is, both of these initiatives are propelled less by the presence of an in-your-face homosexual "agenda" than by the gradual, inevitable, and growing normalization and acceptance of gays and lesbians as complete equals in our society.