“ACT Government” Same-sex reforms about justice, equality, not religion
Posted on November 23, 2009 by by scoop
The ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has said that ACT’s civil partnerships legislation was a logical extension of the Government’s long-standing push to eliminate discrimination against homosexual Canberrans, and elements of the Christian lobby were mistaken in believing that it had anything to do with religion. ACT Gov
“The laws which came into effect in the ACT last week, providing for a ceremonial element to civil partnerships between same-sex couples, are just the latest in a suite of significant legislative changes the ACT Government has pursued over the past eight years,” Mr Stanhope said. “These include reforms to adoption laws that allow same-sex couples to have formal parent status in relation to their children.
“For a lobbyist like Mr Jim Wallace to assert that the ACT’s long-standing commitment to homosexual law reform has anything to do with religion simply proves that he has misunderstood the Government’s intent. These reforms have nothing to do with Christianity – or indeed with any religion. They are about eliminating discrimination. They are – to use Mr Wallace’s own word, and indeed the word of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd – about delivering genuine ‘inclusiveness’.
What my Government has sought to do, with the support of the ACT community, is to deliver equality under the law and equality in terms of respect, to all Canberrans, regardless of their sexual orientation. Mr Stanhope said.
