@ Jay Of Melbourne

"I'm Anti "Gayism" because like all "Ism's" it's ideology based on lies and prone to corruption"

Firslty, there is no such thing as "gayism". I and most GLBT only want to be treated equal, and to be treated equal that includes having the option of being able to marry or not. I would have to say religion is more prone to lies and corruption than gay people just wanting equal rights, because thats all its really about - being treated equal - nothing more, nothing less. There is no secret agenda or plan.

HB.... "why give it more legitimacy?"

Because giving it more legitimacy may give those children more equality and acceptance in society.

By denying the legitimacy of certain family structures in the community, you are taking away the legitimacy of innocent children born into those situations.

You are telling kids brought unwittingly into certain situations that their families are not legitimate, therefore that they are lesser.

Is that what you want to tell those kids? Because those kids already exist, you can't change that. Should they be told their families are not equal to other families, that they are inferior beings purely because of the circumstances they were born into?

You claim to protect these children, but in reality you are creating a situation where they feel isolated and unaccepted by society.

Well done.

@ diver dan

Well I guess this is where we differ in our opinions. We gay people want to be treated equal, Virtually nothing is given to us on a plate. So when GLBT lobby groups make contact with the government in an attempt to gain what we see is right, social consertives jump up and down and scream about a gay agenda. I don't see how asking for basic rights in the likes of superanuation or tax for instance is wrong. Diver Dan I suggest you ask yourself why most gay people want to be treated equally. People who are against gay rights could be seen as having an agenda.

It's pity that the author of this opinion Ben-Peter Terpstra fails to mention the thousands of dollars worth of entitlements that same-sex couples should have recieved, but can't because they can't legally marry. Perhapes Ben-Peter Terpstra could explain about all the benefits workplaces offer to staff who have a spouse. The author should also check out this link which provides some information about the discrimination we same-sex couples face when it comes to superanuation because we can't legally marry: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/samesex/inquiry/submissions/128.pdf

@jason84
Stop with the "equality" BS, Golfers don't discriminate against Hockey players unless they're trying to play Golf.
Homosexuality and Heterosexuality are two different things, are they not?
I still can't seem to get through to you the point that asking permission for "equality" from the System and more broadly from a society that doesn't recognise homosexual marriage as an "equal" state is pointless.
Furthermore what happened to "Liberation"?
How does "equality" square with "liberty"?
I'm using particularism, in my case Race as a tool for Liberation from Tyranny and state control, and you're using your homosexuality to fit into that mechanism?
When did "If you can't beat them join them" become a "Gay" concept?
Jason they don't care about you and a good few are downright evil, your "Gay" leaders will eventually the side of the Tyrants, just like the Green "leaders", the Aboriginal "leaders", the Muslim "leaders" and the Nationalist "leaders".
I'd suggest you get get clued in to groups like Bashback:
http://bashbacknews.wordpress.com/
Obviously they're not my cup of tea but they are more toward my way of thinking than "Gay Marriage".

@ Jay Of Melbourne

"I still can't seem to get through to you the point that asking permission for "equality" from the System and more broadly from a society that doesn't recognise homosexual marriage as an "equal" state is pointless."

Thats because I don't subscribe to your way of thinking. Social consertives would love us to give up advocating for marriage equality, but we are not going to. We in the gay community have learnt that if we want something which we rightly deserve, then we must fight for it - and its proven to work time and time again in gaining our rights.

The term equality comes from equal, and thats what we want. We Australian gays and lesbians have moved on from gay liberation - unless your a gay person living in the likes of Uganda.