17 March
2009
Marriage
Advocates
Urge
Community
Action
on Human
Rights
Advocates
for
same-sex
marriage
have
taken
their
case to
the
national
human
rights
inquiry
declaring
same-sex
marriage
to be a
matter
of
fundamental
human
rights,
and
calling
on
community
members
to write
to the
inquiry
supporting
full
legal
equality
for
same-sex
partners.
Australian
Marriage
Equality
spokesperson,
Alex
Greenwich,
said
that
laws
preventing
same-sex
marriage
violate
the
right to
equality
before
the law,
the
right
not to
be
discriminated
against
and the
right to
marriage
and
family
life.
"Human
rights
charters
in other
countries
have
been
important
for
achieving
equality
in
marriage
and AME
strongly
supports
an
Australian
human
rights
charter",
Mr
Greenwich
said.
"We have
developed
a
toolkit
to help
community
members
show
their
support
for full
legal
equality,
which is
available
on the
AME
website."
In its
submission
to the
human
rights
inquiry,
AME has
categorically
dismissed
civil
union
schemes
as a
substitute
for
equality
in
marriage.
"A
growing
number
of
courts
around
the
world
have
found
that
civil
unions
do not
solve
the
problem
of legal
inequality
and
discrimination,
they
perpetuate
it", Mr
Greenwich
said.
AME also
calls on
the
inquiry
to
support
a right
to marry
which is
gender
neutral.
"In
recent
times in
places
like
California
and
Canada,
the interpretation
of the
right to
marry to
include
same-sex
partners
has been
crucial
to
achieving
reform.
If a
future
Australian
charter
of
rights
also
includes
the
right to
marry,
that
right
must be
non-discriminatory
and
gender
neutral."
