The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly passed a civil unions bill on November 11 to allow same-sex couples the right to legally binding ceremonies. Civil unions with ceremonies have been a key demand of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) movement in the ACT since 2006.
The bill was introduced by the Greens and supported, in an amended form, by the Labor Party.
The federal Labor government opposes equal marriage rights for queers, and even opposes civil union ceremonies that "mimic marriage".
Legislation for civil unions was first passed in the ACT in 2006. The then Howard government overturned this legislation before it could come into effect.
The ACT Legislative Assembly made a second attempt to pass civil unions legislation under the newly elected government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2008. But Rudd threatened to overturn the legislation again unless the right to an official ceremony was dropped.
The ACT Legislative Assembly caved in to the pressure, and passed laws for civil partnerships without ceremonies in early 2008.
The new bill is a big victory for the queer rights movement. It was passed after the tremendous strengthening of movement for equal marriage rights this year.
A national day of action held in August drew about 10,000 people nationwide — the largest protests for LGBTI rights in Australian history.
The ACT laws pose a big challenge to the anti-queer prejudices of the federal government. It is likely the federal government will again threaten to overturn the bill.
Yet if it does, it will be up against not only the ACT Legislative Assembly, but a protest movement that is getting stronger and stronger.
A growing majority of Australians support the right of LGBTI people to marry. Overturning the legislation would only propel the LGBTI movement forward.
Despite its importance, the new law still has significant problems. A Labor Party amendment makes civil unions with ceremonies available only to people excluded from the federal marriage act.
This means it excludes many transgender people. The law defines many transgender or transsexual people as "male" or "female", but they do not necessarily identify as such.
The Labor Party amendment also means straight couples cannot get civil unions.
On the surface of it, the new civil union legislation is affirmative action. The main inequality is not that straight couples do not have the right to a civil union, but that queer couples do not have the right to marry. Granting civil unions to queer couples goes some of the way toward addressing this inequality.
The intent of the legislation may have been affirmative action, but still it creates problems. It creates an unnecessary segregation between queer people who get civil unions on the one hand, and straight people who get married on the other. Allowing straight couples the right to civil unions would undermine this divide.
[A national day of action for equal marriage rights will be held on November 28. Equal Love Canberra will organise a rally at 1pm, Garema Place, city.]