Yorick Smaal reveals how the queer world of nineteenth-century Australia undermines arguments by those opposed to marriage equality. Marriage was never the bedrock of early white Australia traditionalists have claimed it to be. British sex and gender norms may have … Continue reading
The marriage equality series continues with Jordy Silverstein’s reflections on alternative perceptions of weddedness in the Australian Jewish community. In 2014, I conducted an oral history interview with a Jewish lesbian couple – let’s call them Leah and Amanda – … Continue reading
Continuing our marriage equality series, Michelle Arrow investigates the Australian Royal Commission on Human Relationships as a forum for LGBT experience in the 1970s. At the heart of the campaign for same-sex marriage is a plea for national inclusion, for … Continue reading
Barbara Baird traces the shifting demands of Australian gay and lesbian activists with respect to ‘same sex’ relationships, from not marriage to just marriage. I blame Prime Minister John Howard for a lot of things, including the form and content … Continue reading
Rebecca Jennings reflects on same-sex marriage and relationships between women since the post-war period in Australia. Debates about same-sex marriage in Australia are often seen as a recent phenomenon, dating from the mid-1990s, at the earliest, when Liberal Prime Minister … Continue reading
Sophie Robinson reflects on the meanings and histories of personal and sexual liberation in our continuing series on marriage equality in Australia. For at least forty years, LGBTQ+ communities in Australia and elsewhere have been striving for recognition, protection and … Continue reading
In this post for our marriage equality series, Andy Kaladelfos looks back at the contested history of policing homosexuality before decriminalisation. The 1950s has long been interpreted as a time of homosexual persecution, characterised by intensification of policing and criminal … Continue reading
Scott McKinnon contributes to our marital equality series by exploring the often relied-upon arguments regarding children, ‘radicalisation’ and education in campaigns against LGBT rights. Opponents of marriage equality often argue that legalisation of same-sex marriage will harm children. The Australian … Continue reading
Lisa Featherstone continues our marital equality series by drawing comparisons between arguments used against marriage equality and arguments used to resist marital rape law reform in the 1970s and 1980s. In the midst of our current debate over ‘yes’ or … Continue reading
Senthorun Raj examines the use and abuse of history in recent Australian legal debates about marriage equality. Everyone is a historian. Well, you’d probably seem to think so if you followed some arguments that are currently advanced by those who … Continue reading