Equal Love鈥檚 year of action starts
A 1500-strong crowd gathered in front of the State Library on Saturday to march again for same-sex marriage rights.
It was the first of several rallies planned this year for Equal Love鈥檚 year of action on the issue.
National Union of Students queer officer Kath Larkin said the failure of the Greens鈥� recent Marriage Equality (Amendment) bill in federal Parliament was a reminder same-sex marriage rights were not inevitable.
鈥淧oliticians are not going to give us our rights. We鈥檙e going to have to win them,鈥� she said.
Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby interim convenor Sarah Rogan rejected Family First senator Steve Fielding鈥檚 claims same-sex marriage would undermine heterosexual marriage.
鈥淗e鈥檚 second only to Tony Abbott in his open homophobia,鈥� Rogan said. 鈥淗e said [the bill] seeks to undermine marriage and undermine [the] family.
鈥淭he bill does nothing of the sort. It wanted to remove discrimination faced by same-sex couples.鈥�
Greens federal Senate hopeful Richard Di Natale said the fight was about offering all Australians equality under the law.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e here to talk about marriage, because marriage means all sorts of things to people,鈥� he said.
鈥淔or some people, it鈥檚 a lovely way to celebrate your love publicly. For others, it鈥檚 an important religious ceremony. For some people, it鈥檚 a horrible institution and they don鈥檛 want a bar of it.
鈥淲e鈥檙e here today because the Government has taken away your choice.鈥�
TransGender Victoria representative Sam said the ban on same-sex marriage also has a significant impact on the transgender community when people transition.
鈥淥ne of the most absurd issues the trans community faces is that many couples are forced to divorce because of the sex on their birth certificate.鈥�
The Auslan-interpreted rally was hosted by Rocco D鈥橝more and Kaye Sera with a special performance by Bumpa Love.
The next Equal Love rally is on Saturday, May 15.
