Bongiorno, Frank: On marriage equality, Australia’s progressive instincts have been crushed by political failure

Frank Bongiorno

On marriage equality, Australia’s progressive instincts have been crushed by political failure’, The Conversation, 18 September 2017

In the context of the forthcoming postal survey, the author looks at aspects of the history of sexuality in Australia. He concludes:

Seen in an international context, Australia now seems a laggard rather than the pioneer it once was [in social policy]. And it is surely deficiencies in our recent democracy rather than deeper historical or cultural issues that lie at the heart of our failure to resolve the issue of same-sex marriage …

Neither major political party has a record on marriage equality of which it can be proud. A few individual politicians have been active, but the parties, as institutions, have notably failed to provide leadership. This is partly a function of the inordinate influence that minorities with unrepresentative moral and social views exercise through these parties’ factional systems. But it is also a failure of leadership.

Frank Bongiorno is President of Honest History. Use the Honest History site search engine to find other articles by him. He is the author of The Sex Lives of Australians (2012).

 

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