There has been a
recent flurry of gay-related news and it's not been all good...
Despite quotes declaring that
the ruling “took
India back to 1860”, the rulings actually take the countries back to 2009
and October
2013 respectively. In both
cases, a court has decided that sex and marriage laws should be decided at a national
level, rather than a province or a territory.
In the UK, marriage law is
devolved. That means that the UK government has made same-sex marriage legal in
England and Wales. Scotland
is still considering it. However Northern Ireland
politicians keep stopping even debating it (although in a small sign of
progress, it has just lifted its
ban on gay adoption)
The variations are bound to
cause inconsistencies and arguments in the future. Making the decision at the
UK level (as was the case for civil partnerships as they were specifically not
marriages, which is devolved) seems quite appealing.
Of course I believe that there
should be legal same-sex sex and equal marriage in all countries, but I also believe that the people of each
country should be able determine their own laws, and that includes deciding
their own sex and marriage laws, at whatever level they decide is appropriate.
I hope that the rulings in
India and Australia will lead to a ground-swell of support for change at the
national level in both countries. It won’t be quick and there are bound to be
more setbacks but it will be the right thing to do.
Image from http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71689000/jpg/_71689140_gaymarriage2.jpg
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