Mr Abbott is obviously his own man, and I get the impression he ploughs his own furrow, like it or lump it, so he has been controversial in many of his views, but he still commanded a massive groundswell for political change. While almost all other ‘progressive’ leaders are lining up behind the movement to legislate for same sex marriage under the smokescreen of equality, this man has the nerve to buck the trend, and not dance to the current mood music of the age. He openly stands for traditional marriage ie, one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
This made me think of the differing directions of our other ‘civilised’ nations. The march to government legislation for homosexual marriage is much greater than any opposition to it. So we can either take it that Australia’s new government takes notice of its people, and acts accordingly, or this same nation is not progressive and therefore a dinosaur! The USA, UK and Scotland have ridden roughshod over public opinion to get this thorny issue out of the way before election time, while Australia took it head on, as an election issue and won. What does that tell you? I know what it says to me. If only there were more leaders with a backbone, like Tony Abbott, and not ones with a wishbone like Barack Obama, David Cameron and Alex Salmond. Not only did Abbott ask what the electorate wanted, he put his reputation on the line, and gave them the risky choice to vote on the subject. Wishbone? No, certainly a backbone!
Stop this nonsense about people riding rough shod over public opinion.
ReplyDelete"Opinion polls have shown general support for same-sex marriage among Britons.
A 2004 poll by Gallup reported that 52% agreed that 'marriages between homosexuals' should be recognised while 45% said they should not. Support for same-sex marriage among British respondents was 17% higher than people in the USA who were asked. The poll found that 65% supported allowing gay couples to form civil unions.[51] A 2006 Eurobarometer survey reported that 46% of Britons agreed the same-sex marriages should be allowed throughout Europe, support being slightly higher than the EU average of 44%.[52] A poll conducted in September 2008 by ICM Research for The Observer found that 55% of Britons believed that same-sex couples should be allowed to get married while 45% disagreed.[53][54]
An opinion poll conducted in June 2009 by Populus for The Times reported 61% of the British public agreed with the statement 'Gay couples should have an equal right to get married, not just to have civil partnerships', while 33% disagreed. Support was highest among those aged between 25 and 34 where 78% agreed and 19% disagreed. It was lowest amongst those over 65 where 37% agreed and 52% disagreed. A majority of both men and women agreed but support was higher among women (67%) than men (55%). On voting intention, 73% Liberal Democrats, 64% Labour voters and 53% Conservatives agreed that gay couples should have the right to marry.[55][56]
A poll conducted by Angus Reid in July 2010 showed that 78% of people supported either same-sex marriage or civil union for gay couples, with 41% opting for same-sex marriage and 37% opting for civil union. The amount of people who supported no legal unions for gay couples decreased by 3% since August 2009.[57]
According to the 2010 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, 61% of Scotland's population supports same-sex marriage. Just 19% said they disagreed, while 18% said they neither agreed nor disagreed. In a similar poll in 2002, 42% of Scotland's population supported same-sex marriage. In 2006, 53% of Scots backed same-sex marriage.[58]
In July 2011, a representative survey conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion showed that 43% of Britons believe same-sex couples in Britain should be allowed to legally marry, 34% think same-sex couples should be allowed to form civil partnerships, but not marry, and 15% would grant no legal recognition to same-sex couples.[59]
A poll published by YouGov in March 2012 showed that 43% of people supported same-sex marriage whilst 32% supported civil partnerships. 16% were opposed to the recognition of homosexual relations all together. Support was particularly high amongst women, young people, people in Scotland and supporters of the Liberal Democrats. Support was lower amongst the working class, Conservative voters, men and older people. In the same poll, 62% believed that homosexual relationships had the same value as heterosexual ones, but 47% of people supported the right of the Church of England to defend traditional marriage and 37% disagreed.
A June 2012 YouGov survey shows highly accepting attitudes of the British population toward LGBT rights. The report found that 71% are in favour of same-sex marriage.[60] Two YouGov polls in December 2012 found that 55% of the population was in favour of introducing same-sex marriage.[61]
Another poll in May 2013 again confirmed public support for the bill with 53% in favour of the introduction of same sex marriage.[62] A second poll in May showed a similar support of 54%, also showing that 58% of people who considered same sex marriage an important election issue would be more likely to vote for a party supporting it.[63] A May 2013 Ipsos poll found that 55% of respondents were in favour of same-sex marriage.[64]"
That's a direct quote from Wikipedia.....your figures are wrong, politicians introducing same sex marriage in the UK are doing exactly what the people want.
Just not what you want.
Hi Anonymous. (Could this be 'anon'? If so, welcome back!)
DeleteThanks for sharing the Wikipedia information. I will not argue with all your statistics, mainly because I can't possibly analyse them all objectively without knowing the sample size/number, where the surveys were taken, gender split etc etc. The original piece was about Australia's direction, and the backbone Mr Abbott must have had to make the case for traditional marriage, and take the policy of same sex marriage out of his manifesto. I do not deny that many limited (by size) surveys show support for it in many countries, and that includes the UK. However (a very big however) the Scottish consultation mentioned was the biggest response to date, and the results are very interesting. I have given the links should you want to dissect it, and have quoted the statistic relevant to the discussion for Scotland. It is significant to note that the statistics for active homosexuals in the UK vary from 1% to 6% max. However you look at the numbers, this is still a very significant minority of the population.
Since you are a great advocate for equality, you will notice that the overall figure from all respondents is 67% against same sex marriage. Not my figures. But here is the inequality part I cannot see you supporting. When the postcard responses are removed from the total number, support for same sex marriage comes out on top. I know you would want to treat the people who responded by postcard the same as all the others who responded by email or letter. The postcards were mainly from religious groups, and I know for equality's sake, you would not want to discount church goers, or dismiss their opinions just because it was on a card! Maybe my comment about riding roughshod over the opinions of the people is a bit strong for you, so how about agreeing that the electorate were ignored or dismissed or results recalculated to suit Scottish politics? My point is basic and simple. From a major general Election in Australia, the vote was not in favour of same sex marriage. You can't get a better or bigger sample than that. Also, the massive response to the Scottish consultation on the subject was clear, and from a very large survey base. Most 'normal' polls and newspaper surveys work on a sample size of just over 1,000 people. There is no doubt that the larger the sample, the more reliable the result.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/07/5671/downloads
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0039/00397030.pdf
Views on the proposed introduction of same sex marriage
15. The first question on same sex marriage asked respondents whether they
agreed that the law in Scotland should be changed to allow same sex marriage.
As the first and most fundamental question about same sex marriage, this
question was included within all the amended forms, prepared letters, postcards
and petitions received, and hence received the largest number of responses
across all the consultation questions. The number of comments received was
also high, with many respondents making their most substantive, or in some
cases only, comment at this question.
16. Across all respondents, a clear majority (67%) opposed changing the law to
allow same sex marriage.
Thanks again(?) for your contact. God Bless, David.