We participated in the first Marriage Equality National Day of Action on August 13, 2005. The action consisted of only 4-5 cars in a procession with banners being waved and signs stuck on the vehicles driving around Brisbane, highlighting inequality and the fact our sons and daughters couldn’t marry.
Marriage Equality
After Economic Equality was passed into legislation, Marriage Equality became all consuming. The government of the day was hesitant to legislate, but the average Australian was more than ready for it. It seemed I was always on a plane going somewhere across the country doing workshops. People seemed to crave them. They all wanted to be sure they got the message right that they wanted to send to Canberra.
The work towards marriage equality was relentless. There were workshops for people who wanted to know how to approach their MP or know how to put their story together. Additionally, there were always letters to be written to MPs in Canberra. There were always trips to Canberra at Sitting times to meet with MPs and always talks to be given somewhere. These were busy years, up until marriage equality was achieved.
In 2011 we held a Fringe Event at Labor National Conference. The Fringe Event consisted of parents being available to talk with politicians who came along to be friendly. We supplied nibbles, wine, conversation and resources for them to take away and read.
This was another important year of travel, speaking to those who were interested in learning about marriage equality and what it would mean not only to the couples, but their extended family.
I usually discussed how our children were loved equally in families. And just because our children were gay or lesbian didn’t mean they were second class. I also talked about how they contributed to society through their careers.
Again, at the beginning of the marriage equality campaign we talked about same sex attracted couples. Trans people finally came into the conversation towards the end of the campaigning.
