Australia & Same Sex Marriage--USA Could Take a Lesson Here

Republicans and Conservatives for America

By now everyone is aware of the debacle created by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court when they handed down their ruling in the case of Goodridge, et al., v. Department of Public Health, et. al allowing same-sex marriage in that State. I am, however not going to dwell on this ruling, but rather I want to share some information as to how our neighbors "Down Under" have dealt with this controversial issue.

According to a letter I received from the Attorney General of Australia, concerning an ongoing research project on this subject, it was stated: "The Government is firmly of the view that marriage is a special institution in our society."

The letter also stated that the Marriage Act of 1961 was amended to include a definition of "marriage" as "the union of a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for marriage in Australian law." The words, "to the exclusion of all others," is quite significant in my view, since this would include civil unions and/or domestic partnerships or other forms of counterfit marriage.

Perhaps our so-called leaders in the United States Congress can take a pointer from their colleagues in the Australian Parliament.