Engayment.org

The Honourable Tanya Plibersek,
Member of Parliament.

She’s lovely, but she can’t help us… Yet.

Minister for Housing; Minister for the Status of Women.

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting this extraordinary woman. It was the annual Glebe fair, and Tanya and our local member (both members of the Australian Labor Party) had set up a Labor stand on the street, and were generously answering questions all day. Now I have to be honest, I’ve seen this lady on TV, in fact, I watched her with awe as she verbally annihilated Joe Hockey on channel Seven the night that Kevin Rudd won the Federal Election. She smiled, she laughed, and when Kevin Rudd gave his victory speech, she cried. She is, if ever there was, an honest and down to earth Member of Parliament.

So what did I do? 

I asked her about Gay Marriage.

Now, it’s important to mention that from my discussions with Tanya, I’m convinced that she supports the notion of Gay Marriage. She indicated that she had been the MC at her gay friends commitment ceremony, and that she has a long history (being the ALP’s member for Sydney) of being positive and supportive to the gay community.

That said, my issue is not then with Tanya Plibersek the lovely lady I met in Glebe that day, My issue is with the Honourable Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Housing and Minister for the status of Women. Side note: Women and their status get a minister? But gay people don’t? Okay

Anyway, she pointed out to Kyle and I that as Gay men, we should be proud of how far the Rudd Government has progressed in removing a number of discriminatory policies and laws that in the past made our partnership basically null and void. She went on to tell me that as Defacto’s we have the exact same rights and protections as any Married Couple. I was grateful and indicated my pleasure at these facts, but I asked again, “But what about Gay Marriage?” She then pulled a face not entirely dissimilar to this one: 

But it only lasted a second. Then she went back to smiling (and its a beautiful smile) and she reminded me that a few years ago, gay people were getting bashed in the streets. That we have come a LONG way, and that I should remember where I come from.

I asked again, what her policy was on Gay Marriage.

She told me not to get caught up on the word, and that if my relationship was meaningful that should be all that counts. “Marriage is just a word” – Well, if it is just a word, then why wont you let us use it?

She admitted, that whilst her personal opinion may differ, “It is not Labors Policy to support Gay Marriage.”

Oh, no. Well, if Labor is the left wing party (not taking into account the greens), and not even the left wing party of Australia is willing to make it law that any Australian be entitled to Marriage, then who the hell is going to fight for us? Certainly not the right wing and conservative Australian Liberal Party.

So, basically, we are screwed.

As nice as Tanya is, and I mean it, she really is nice, I was so depressed to hear her tell me that it was not ALP policy to support Gay Marriage.

So, this is a rant. I’m going to write her a letter and I will post it when I’m done. If you feel like writing her a letter, please do! She will probably tell you the same thing she told me, but it can’t hurt.

The Hon Tanya Plibersek, Suite M1 45 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600
Ministerial Office Suite 4&5, Level 10 Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices 70 Phillip St Sydney NSW 2000
Sydney Electorate Office 422 Crown Street Surry Hills, NSW, 2010

Or email her here

By the way, if you ever get a chance to meet Tanya Plibersek in person, do me a favour and compliment her on her smile. I wish I had when I met her, she really does have a killer smile.

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