Politics

The Fight For Marriage Equality Isn’t Over: It’s Time To Contact Your Local MP

The No campaign won't stop, and neither can we.

marriage equality

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

So the Yes vote has succeeded in the marriage equality postal survey, as it was always going to, but the fight for marriage equality is far from over. And you can bet the No side won’t stop fighting to hold back equal rights.

The postal survey was only ever a delaying mechanism. Now attention turns back to parliament, where it’ll be up to our 226 MPs to put the will of the people into action and amend the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to marry.

We’ve already seen what the No campaign wants in exchange for it waiving through legislation — it’s an ugly bill designed to divide Australia and open the door to rampant discrimination against queer people. But there’s another bill, designed by Liberal Senator Dean Smith, which has broad support across the parties, and contains fewer “religious freedom” provisions.

It’s not yet clear what the bill that eventually passes parliament will look like. And that’s where you come in.

Here’s What You Can Do

Before the postal survey, Yes supporters put in a mammoth effort to get as many young people as possible on the electoral roll so that they could vote for equality. Now we need to harness that energy for a new campaign.

Millions of people voted in the postal survey, and an overwhelming majority of them voted Yes. Those Yes voters didn’t vote for discrimination — they voted for fairness and equality.

So, it’s time to contact your local MP and tell them you want them to vote for a marriage bill that allows for same-sex marriage, but doesn’t contain a bunch of nasty, discriminatory provisions, like James Paterson’s does.

It’s really easy. Australian Marriage Equality has a handy website to find your MP. All you need to do is type in your postcode and it’ll give you your local MP’s contact details.

Here’s mine… why it’s Malcolm!

There’s also a handy list of Senators you can contact.

Malcolm Turnbull

Once you’ve found them, you can call, email or post a letter, demanding that they vote Yes to a fair marriage equality bill that reflects the will of the people.

Some tips: don’t be rude or mean. The people reading these emails and taking the phone calls are just doing their jobs. Instead, be constructive, tell them why this issue matters to you, and let your local member know that if they don’t vote for marriage equality, you won’t vote for them.

Here’s A Sample Letter

Courtesy of Australian Marriage Equality, here’s an example of the sort of letter of email you might like to send to your MP:

“Dear Malcolm Turnbull,

I live in your electorate of Wentworth and I wanted to write to let you know that marriage equality is important to me because:

[FILL IN YOUR MESSAGE HERE]

I urge you to use your influence to ensure that there is a parliamentary vote on marriage equality this term and do everything possible to make marriage equality a reality.

Already two-thirds of Australians support this straightforward change as well as the majority of parliamentarians and the leaders of every political party. The only block is a vote in Parliament — and you and your colleagues can address this.

The message from the research is clear: Australians overwhelmingly want our elected representatives to be free to vote for or against marriage equality in the Parliament.

I urge you to do what is right, and what the Australian people want, by supporting a parliamentary vote on marriage equality.

Respectfully,

[NAME]

[SUBURB/TOWN]”

So that’s it. It could be a matter of days before parliament debates this legislation, so you have to act NOW. Spread the word, tell your friends, post on social media. We’re so close, but the fight for marriage equality isn’t over.