Same-sex marriage has unleashed a rainbow-striped tiger that threatens to devour anyone who fails to celebrate the sexual and gender-fluid expressionism of its political movement.
Today’s decision by Scott Morrison to delay the Religious Discrimination bill so further changes can be made is a good one.
He and Attorney General Christian Porter should go back to the drawing board and draft a bill which reflects what the same-sex marriage activists promised during the campaign.
The Yes campaign built its pitch on “no consequences” to anyone else because “love is love”.
The media power behind the Yes Campaign meant most Australians heard nothing else.
They could be forgiven for believing what any thinking person now knows to be a lie.
The Morrison Government should take the Yes campaign at its word and construct the bill to give effect to what they promised the Australian people – no consequences to anyone else’s freedom.
Australians were led to believe same-sex marriage was a simple change affecting no one apart from loving couples who simply wanted to get married. Who could argue with that? Most decided they didn’t want to.
What Australians didn’t know, despite multiple warnings from those of us in the No campaign, is that changing the law would be more complicated.
It has unleashed a rainbow-striped tiger that threatens to devour anyone who fails to celebrate the sexual and gender-fluid expressionism of its political movement.
This has cultural and legal teeth.
Culturally, Qantas is emboldened to pressure Rugby Australia to demonise and persecute Israel Folau for paraphrasing the Bible. They’ve decided he will never represent his country again.
Tennis Australia feels free to perniciously discriminate against our greatest player, Margaret Court, because she holds to a Christian view of marriage.
The irony of a movement supposedly built on eliminating discrimination now demanding no tolerance for Court’s views is lost in a rainbow haze.
It’s become ugly and people are wondering what on earth has become of “live and let live”.
No less than Tony Abbott’s sister Christine Forster, said Christian schools would be unaffected by the change to marriage.
That of course was a lie.
Forster’s colleague in the Yes campaign, Anna Brown, has re-emerged at the head of a re-badged campaign organisation called “Equality Australia”.
Despite Forster’s assurances that schools would be free, Brown is assisting with legal action against Ballarat Christian College. It’s crime? It won’t bend to the new definition of marriage.
Christian schools all over the nation are in limbo because of a change to the law which was supposed to produce “no consequences”.
Responding to Morrison’s announcement the bill would go back for re-working, Brown welcomed the delay but said: "We need legislation in this country that protects everyone equally."
By “everyone” Brown does not mean Margaret Court, Ballarat Christian College, Israel Folau or the millions of other less famous Australians too scared to make their views on marriage known for fear of their work prospects being cruelled by the rainbow police running the HR departments in government and large corporations.
In a statement today, the ACL’s Martyn Iles also welcomed the delay.
“Religious freedom reform should protect people of faith expressing religious belief and quoting religious texts, in public, online or in workplaces. They shouldn't be sacked or face severe penalties.
“Faith based bodies must retain the freedom to recruit likeminded staff as ambassadors for their mission, without being sued for discrimination,” Iles said.
During the marriage debate the Yes campaign agreed.
Morrison should hold them to it.