Greens vote delivers best possible outcome for ACT couples

On the 10^th December in the ACT Legislative Assembly, the Greens reluctantly supported changes to our civil ceremonies legislation.  The changes were insisted on by the Federal Government in order to prevent a veto of the laws, and protect some of the gains that had been made..

The decision to support these changes was a really tough one for us, but ultimately we have been elected to represent the rights of people in the ACT, and we couldn’t risk the Federal ALP Government intervening to remove those rights once again.

Since the Greens original laws passed earlier in the year, couples in the ACT have been using ceremonies to create their civil partnerships, and as someone who has attended one of those ceremonies, I have seen how important they are for the couples involved.

By failing to rule out a veto against the ACT’s legislation, the Rudd Government has again confirmed their discrimination against same sex couples and their disrespect for the ACT parliament.

Civil unions watered down after Greens compromise Equal Love Canberra

Equal rights activists are deeply disappointed that the ACT Legislative Assembly will today vote to water down civil partnership laws, removing the legal effect of ceremonies, after the ACT Greens announced this morning their intention not to block Labor's amendments to the laws. Activists are disappointed that ACT Labor and the Greens did not take the matter further, but have laid much of the blame with the federal government.

Equal Love Canberra campaigned to ensure the ACT Greens' ceremonies bill passed by the Assembly on 11 November 2009 was not amended in
response to requests from the federal government. The federal government reached a deal last month with ACT Labor whereby official ceremonies would not be vetoed as long as changes were made.

Spokesperson for Equal Love Canberra said ACT Labor and the Greens were taking a step backwards for gay and lesbian rights.

Gay partnership ceremonies.

ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell has tabled amendments in the Legislative Assembly to the law allowing gay couples to have legally binding partnership ceremonies.

The Legislative Assembly passed the legislation last month but the ACT Government agreed to make amendments after negotiations with the Commonwealth.

The amendments need the Greens support to pass but the party is yet to reveal its position.

Mr Corbell told the Assembly, the changes are minor and will ensure the Commonwealth allows the law to stand.

"There would be little sense in the Government's mind in risking these major reforms and this major advance for the sake of some relatively minor concessions to put at rest the Commonwealth's concerns," he said.

Christian groups have accused the Federal Government of breaking an election promise by allowing same-sex couples in the ACT to have legally binding partnership ceremonies.

The ACT Legislative Assembly passed legislation earlier this month to allow gay couples to recognise their relationship with a legal ceremony.The Commonwealth raised concerns about the laws but has now reached a compromise with the ACT. Gay couples will still be able to have ceremonies but will also have to notify the registrar-general. Jim Wallace from the Australian Christian Lobby says that mimics marriage and the Rudd Labor Government has betrayed Christians who voted for it.

"Once you cross this line you've opened the door to completely devaluing marriage," he said.

"This will lead to other ways of mimicking it. We'll have demands for polygamists marriages."

But Gabrielle Hitch from Equal Love Canberra says the new laws are a step forward and set an important precedent.

"This is ultimately a triumph for the ACT," she said.

"It also gives us fuel to keep up the fight for marriage equality."

The ACT Government says it wants to push the amended laws through the Legislative Assembly by the end of the year.

Full Story at ource: http://www.abc.net.au

Federal Labor Member for Eden-Monaro Mike Kelly has defended his Government's record on gay rights but will not say if he supports the ACT's new law for same-sex couples.

The ACT Legislative Assembly passed a bill earlier this week allowing gay couples to recognise their relationships with a legally binding ceremony.

But the Federal Government has the power to veto the new law.

It stepped in last year and forced the ACT Government to water down a similar bill which formed the Territory's Civil Partnerships Act.

The Commonwealth argues having legal civil union ceremonies for gay couples is too similar to marriage.

Dr Kelly says Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland is reviewing the legislation.

"We should really focus on our record on this issue," he said.

"Over the past two years we've systematically gone through every piece of Commonwealth legislation - 84 pieces of Commonwealth legislation to be precise - and removed all elements of discrimination in this area.