The Forum > Article Comments > Opinions will continue to differ on same-sex marriage > Comments
Opinions will continue to differ on same-sex marriage : Comments
By Laurence Maher, published 21/9/2017Some opponents of the same-sex survey insist there has been too much debate. That is part of the reason why the controversy will not go away.
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While some of the legal aspects may indeed be vague, unclear and lacking clear substance, the so-called "safeguards" appear to be an attempt at censorship in favour of the Yes case.
If that is not correct, we can expect imminent action against Madlin Sims, the woman who has taken it upon herself - in the absence of legal procedures - to decide what is hate speech and that she should be free to punish a staff member for the perfectly reasonable statement that "It's OK to vote No", which is, after all, what the law says. Indeed, the ABS survey invites a No response.
Sims said: "Today I fired a staff member who made it public knowledge that they feel 'it's okay to vote no'. Advertising your desire to vote no for SSM is, in my eyes, hate speech."
The stultifying narcissism of that statement is astounding.
Of course, the Turnbull government will be right on the job, enforcing its new "safeguards". Right?
After all, as the ABS points out, the Safeguards Act provides that persons must not vilify, intimidate or threaten to cause harm because of any of the following grounds:
"...that the other person or group expresses or holds a view in relation to the marriage law survey question;
that the first person believes that the other person or persons hold a view in relation to the marriage law survey question..."
If no action is taken against Ms Sims, one might conclude that the safeguards operate in only one direction.