Australia has an apparent conflict between religious freedom and sexual anti-discrimination legislation. It is particularly prominent in three areas: marriage, education, and social service provision.
The sacrament of marriage does not depend on the law, which exists only to regulate the rights and responsibilities arising from the practice. For religious believers, same-sex marriage won’t change their union.
A central argument made against same-sex marriage is that children born into these marriages will be disadvantaged: they will grow up with inappropriate gender role modelling and be bullied at school.
As opposition leader Bill Shorten prepares to introduce an amendment on Monday to the Marriage Act to legalise same-sex marriage, why has Australia lagged so far behind?
It’s more than a touch hilarious how the Liberals are determined to claim eventual ownership of what seems the likely endorsement of same-sex marriage by parliament later this year. If a change is made…
Outright homophobia has mostly moved from the mainstream of public discourse to its margins. For this, we can thank pioneers like Lance Loud of An American Family.
Some pro-gay marriage Liberals might be railing against Bill Shorten’s pre-emptive move but its effect has been to suddenly raise the prospect of common political ownership of the issue.
A Supreme Court justice hearing arguments over same-sex marriage cited Plato’s stance on homosexuality. But what did Plato really believe about all sexuality? A scholar takes a look.
Same-sex marriage is about state recognition of the union between two people and is a political issue. Religious belief can apply in a church and in individual decisions, but not to a secular state.
The Supreme Court is the final word on the country’s laws but its decisions don’t necessarily end culture debates. Two scholars look at same sex-marriage arguments made before the court.
Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity