SETBACK

Australia Fumbles on Marriage Equality

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We’re getting closer to winning the freedom to marry in Australia, but we’re just not quite there yet. A vote this week in New South Wales is either a setback or a step closer to victory, depending on how you want to look at it.

On one hand: now all the legislators are on the record with their votes, so we know which ones are on our side and which ones need more persuading.

On the other hand: we lost by just one vote. Ouch.

And what’s worse: the deciding vote came from Premier Barry O’Farrell, who’s actually a supporter of marriage equality. But he said he wanted to see a federal solution, rather than a state-by-state approach, so he voted to defeat the measure.

And of course, polling shows steadily increasing public support for marriage equality. As of August, support was at 65%, with opposition down to 28%.

As usual, legislators are way behind the curve.

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