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| Why Knot? A spirited panel discussion on marriage equality – live! | Why Knot? A spirited panel discussion on marriage equality – live! |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.03am BST | |
| 10:03 | |
| Rodney Croome says he recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary with his partner, Raf. At the gathering he overheard his mother tell his aunt, of Raf: “I think of him as my son in law.” | |
| And that short sentence sums up so much about why we come to be talking about marriage equality in Australia today. That short sentence from an 80-year-old mother in Devonport, a former dairy farmer … those small words say so much: that same sex partners are not just tolerated but treated as if we are marriage partners. | |
| I want her to be able to say, not I think of Raf as my son-in-law, I want her at some stage, sooner rather than later, to be able to say he is my son-in-law. | |
| "Australians think of marriage in terms of love & commitment" @RodneyCroome #GuardianLive #marriageequality #whyknot pic.twitter.com/iONRxGdMsG | |
| The plebiscite will be divisive, and give those with prejudice the biggest megaphone they've ever had - @RodneyCroome #GuardianLive | |
| 10.01am BST | |
| 10:01 | |
| We only touched on Richard di Natale’s introductory remarks below, but he expanded on them before tonight’s event in the video below. | |
| To prevent people from expressing their love and commitment to each other is just prejudice. #marriagequality pic.twitter.com/UnxoK5MJ3B | |
| 9.58am BST | |
| 09:58 | |
| Van Badham has taken the stage to argue in favour of the equalising force of marriage equality – a feminist issue, she says, that spells “an equal future for all of us”. | |
| She references the findings of the royal commission into violence against women earlier this week, which made more than 220 recommendations, as an example of how traditional, gendered understandings of relationships are harming women. | |
| Related: Victoria tackles family violence never flinching, and never forgetting | |
| Marriage equality is an issue for feminists, as it affirms that women are equal participants. “I’m not here to contract the enormous power of marriage equality and what that means for the LGBTI communities. I’m here to thank those communities for their activism on this issue. | |
| “We need to build an institution of marraige that is built on equality, based on love ... not on the traditional subservience of women and gendered roles ... What are our enemies so frightened of?” | |
| The traditional definition of marriage gives misogynists and homophobes a sense of superiority, Badham says. “They don’t get to rule the household or issue commands. .. or punish a woman for daring to failing to comply with a command. Because let’s be clear: this is what we know happens in abusive relationships.” | |
| Marriage equality is an affirmation of equalising the rights of all groups, concludes Badham. “Your fight is my fight and I fight with you.” | |
| 9.54am BST | |
| 09:54 | |
| Ben Davison, the son of same-sex parents: | |
| We were verbally abused, I was physically assaulted, our pets were killed, our homes were ransacked, our walls littered with homophobic language. | |
| Before the Safe Schools program ... teasing about “not having a dad” was fairly commonplace. It was so commonplace, that with the love and support of my mum and her partner Kim, I decided to take Kim to show and tell to demonstrate that I lived in a loving, caring family. | |
| At the age of six ... I said “I may not have a dad, but how many of you can say that you have a Kimmy?” | |
| Davison: we cannot allow the plebiscite to be a platform for the fringe lunatics. Don't judge the validity of our lives #GuardianLive | |
| 9.50am BST | |
| 09:50 | |
| Some snaps from our photographer Mike Bowers, who is roaming the hall tonight. | |
| MC David Marr introduces the panel #GuardianLive @safimichael @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/H89V5FIB8L | |
| Benjamin Law at the #GuardianLive marriage equality event in Sydney @safimichael @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/yoZN6r0Wxi | |
| 9.48am BST | |
| 09:48 | |
| Here’s the video we screened at the opening of tonight’s event, helmed by David Marr. | |
| 9.47am BST | |
| 09:47 | |
| We’re speeding through panellists’ introductions now, so I’ll give you just a smattering of what they’re saying. | |
| Richard di Natale: “This is as much a health issue as a human rights issue.” | |
| Ally Hocking Howe, the 16-year-old daughter of same-sex parents: | |
| 16-year-old Ali just stole the show: if anyone's really concerned about us kids they will listen to us #guardianlive pic.twitter.com/g7p6TJXW0F | |
| Kristina Keneally: | |
| I believe as Catholic and as a Christian that when I see two people who give of themselves in a self-sacrificing way that is a mirror of Jesus’ love for us ... And when I see two parents, regardless of their gender, giving that love to a child, how can I not see the love God has for her children. | |
| As NSW Premier @KKeneally oversaw conscience vote that introduced same sex adoption #GuardianLive pic.twitter.com/XlGOXCtQIk | |
| Updated | |
| at 9.51am BST | |
| 9.39am BST | |
| 09:39 | |
| Hilarious from @mrbenjaminlaw at #WhyKnot #GuardianLive #marriageequality pic.twitter.com/M3MfwKW3Dw | |
| 9.39am BST | |
| 09:39 | |
| Benjamin Law: "A gay strike is around the corner" | |
| Writer Benjamin Law recently did the maths, realising he’d been with his partner for 15 years. “In straight years, we’d be dead,” he says. | |
| The idea of getting married – making out in front of his family, in particular – “kind of creeps me out”, he says. | |
| Benjamin says he’s a late convert to this issue – other problems facing LGBTI people always seemed more important. Unless we “pass this fucker now”, he warns, a gay strike is around the corner. | |
| Every gay florist, gay dress designer, and gay caterer; which is to say, ever florist, every dress designer, every caterer, will shut their doors on you. | |
| That will leave only straight wedding planners, “like the wedding singers who perform Bon Jovi to backing tapes and florists who use gerberas – and no one, gay or straight, deserves a wedding like that”. | |
| Updated | |
| at 9.44am BST | |
| 9.27am BST | 9.27am BST |
| 09:27 | 09:27 |
| First up, Bill Shorten | First up, Bill Shorten |
| “Quite frankly the time is well and truly past to have marriage equality in Australia,” says Bill Shorten, the leader of the federal opposition. | “Quite frankly the time is well and truly past to have marriage equality in Australia,” says Bill Shorten, the leader of the federal opposition. |
| He says he’s strongly against a plebiscite, which he says triggered a “nasty, divisive debate” in Ireland (where it was successful in enacting marriage equality. | He says he’s strongly against a plebiscite, which he says triggered a “nasty, divisive debate” in Ireland (where it was successful in enacting marriage equality. |
| He reiterates Labor’s promise: | He reiterates Labor’s promise: |
| That if Labor forms an government at the enext election we will legislate for marriage equality within 100 days, and I can promise you the numbers will be there to get it through. | That if Labor forms an government at the enext election we will legislate for marriage equality within 100 days, and I can promise you the numbers will be there to get it through. |
| .@BillShortenMP on #marriagequality at #GuardianLive https://t.co/4QGIQ8fGTX pic.twitter.com/iucJe28MxU | .@BillShortenMP on #marriagequality at #GuardianLive https://t.co/4QGIQ8fGTX pic.twitter.com/iucJe28MxU |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 9.31am BST | at 9.31am BST |
| 9.22am BST | 9.22am BST |
| 09:22 | 09:22 |
| David Marr has just kicked off Why Knot, calling marriage equality “a profound change that Australian wants to happen”. | David Marr has just kicked off Why Knot, calling marriage equality “a profound change that Australian wants to happen”. |
| He puts the goal of tonight’s event in three questions: | He puts the goal of tonight’s event in three questions: |
| How do we get where this country wants to go? How do we deal with the obstacles? How do we make this change happen? | How do we get where this country wants to go? How do we deal with the obstacles? How do we make this change happen? |
| #guardianlive kicking off at the Giant Dwarf @KKeneally @RodneyCroome @billshortenmp @RichardDiNatale @mrbenjaminlaw pic.twitter.com/IGukxaSowb | |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 9.55am BST | |
| 8.54am BST | 8.54am BST |
| 08:54 | 08:54 |
| Welcome | Welcome |
| Before year’s end it is likely the country will vote on whether all Australians have the right to marry their partners, regardless of gender. | Before year’s end it is likely the country will vote on whether all Australians have the right to marry their partners, regardless of gender. |
| Marriage equality is now the law among the countries we like to peg ourselves against: in Canada and the United Kingdom, across most of western Europe, in Ireland, in spite of its deeply Catholic roots, and most recently in the United States. | Marriage equality is now the law among the countries we like to peg ourselves against: in Canada and the United Kingdom, across most of western Europe, in Ireland, in spite of its deeply Catholic roots, and most recently in the United States. |
| Australia, despite polls that indicate widespread public support, has so far held out. | Australia, despite polls that indicate widespread public support, has so far held out. |
| Tonight Guardian Live and the Australian Marriage Equality (AME) campaign have brought together a range of voices to plot the path forward for equal marriage. | Tonight Guardian Live and the Australian Marriage Equality (AME) campaign have brought together a range of voices to plot the path forward for equal marriage. |
| Guardian Australia’s David Marr will chair a wide-ranging conversation featuring personal and poignant stories, a probing look at the pockets of resistant, and what this election year might mean for marriage equality and LGBTI rights. | Guardian Australia’s David Marr will chair a wide-ranging conversation featuring personal and poignant stories, a probing look at the pockets of resistant, and what this election year might mean for marriage equality and LGBTI rights. |
| Joining David is the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, the leader of the Australian Greens, Richard di Natale, Matildas star Michelle Heyman, Kristina Keneally, Van Badham, Ben Davison, Ally Hocking Howe, Benjamin Law and the convener of AME, Rodney Croome. | Joining David is the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, the leader of the Australian Greens, Richard di Natale, Matildas star Michelle Heyman, Kristina Keneally, Van Badham, Ben Davison, Ally Hocking Howe, Benjamin Law and the convener of AME, Rodney Croome. |
| Before we start, get up to speed on the issue. Read Brigid Delaney on the experiences that honed the Australian Marriage Equality movement and its strategy ahead of a possible plebiscite on its foundation issue. | Before we start, get up to speed on the issue. Read Brigid Delaney on the experiences that honed the Australian Marriage Equality movement and its strategy ahead of a possible plebiscite on its foundation issue. |
| David Marr writes here on the desperate last-ditch efforts of Australia’s Catholic church to marshall opposition to a reform the sudden popularity of which has caught the bishops off-balance. | David Marr writes here on the desperate last-ditch efforts of Australia’s Catholic church to marshall opposition to a reform the sudden popularity of which has caught the bishops off-balance. |
| And Paul Daley reaches back into history here to chart earlier marriage fights – these over former convict and Indigenous marriages, struggles that echo loudly today. | And Paul Daley reaches back into history here to chart earlier marriage fights – these over former convict and Indigenous marriages, struggles that echo loudly today. |
| Follow the debate here throughout the event or on Twitter at #GuardianLive. You can reach me or give us your thoughts in the comments or at @safimichael | Follow the debate here throughout the event or on Twitter at #GuardianLive. You can reach me or give us your thoughts in the comments or at @safimichael |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 9.06am BST | at 9.06am BST |