The campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) marriage rights will culminate this year in a protest outside the Labor Party Conference in Sydney when Labor will debate its policy on the issue.

It is no such thing. A conscience vote will delay equal marriage legislation and supporters of marriage equality should reject it and demand that Labor politicians be bound by party policy to support full marriage rights.

The campaign for marriage equality is one of civil rights. It aims to win LGBTI people the basic right to publicly celebrate their relationships with the same social and legal standing that heterosexual couples have. It is centred around the crazy notion that everyone deserves to be treated equally by the law, regardless of sexual preference or gender.

Civil rights are not dependent on the conscience (or lack thereof) of those currently holding power in society. Civil rights are unconditional. Whether politicians personally agree with their demands or not, LGBTI people deserve the right to marry.

Despite this, there are still key supporters of the campaign who argue for a conscience vote. A conscience vote would allow “MPs and Senators...a free vote…the freedom to vote for what their community wants.” wrote Greens Senator Sarah Hansen-Young in The Age.

The real freedom that the 68% of Australians who support marriage equality want to see is the freedom for LGBTI people to live without discrimination, to marry and start families without state-sanctioned homophobia standing in their way.

Not only will a conscience vote encourage homophobes, it will likely end in defeat. Many prominent Labor figures (including Prime Minister Julia Gillard and far right faction leader Joe de Bruyn) have signalled that they are prepared to fight to deny marriage equality. Senior members of the Coalition, such as Tony Abbott, have made it clear that there will be no conscience vote in the Liberal or National Parties. So a Labor conscience vote means the bigots will have the strength of numbers in Parliament.

In the lead up to the ALP National Conference, it is important that the supporters of marriage equality are clear in our message: that LGBTI rights are not a personal conscience issue, but one of human rights. A change in the Labor Party platform is the only way forward for the campaign. For that reason the Equal Love campaign is inviting all supporters of marriage equality across Australia to head to Sydney for the protest outside the ALP National Conference. The protest will take place in Hyde Park North on Saturday the 3^rd of December, commencing at noon.