Where would we be without the fundamentalist and rednecks! We would be without whingers and the selfcentred, who forget that Australia gave them a home; yet they continue to disrespect other Australians by their ignorance.

A very interesting article thanks Bernard. 'discrimination' is the word being shouted out loudly these days but perhaps --disadvantage - is more to the point. I am fortunate to have friends who are in a variety of relationships, not marraiges, and they do not feel disadvantaged at all.I understand that legally for all purposes there is no disadvantage,

So the real question is just WHY do some feel they need the term marriage applied to their lives?

Any dictionary can give a definition of marriage and clear up the confusion which is apparent in some comments.

Kipp:

...If you want to live in an environment of “abandoned culture”, follow Richard Neville to GB. This is Australia… Homosexuality will never be acceptable in this culture; and it never was! Remember Australia is the global back-block...Just the way we like it, (Queen and all, not Queens and all)!

Noelreg

no, the question is not why "some feel they need the term marriage applied to their lives?".

It is why some (like you) feel they should not be permitted to apply the term marriage to their lives.

Forbidding people access to rights enjoyed by others for no good reason is discrimination - in the worst sense of the word.

Even homosexuals advocating for redefining the Marriage Act would agree that the marriage definition they desire is between no more than two individuals. Suppose some among their ranks advocated for polyamorous marriages (that is, marriages involving more than two individuals). Would they agree? Are they prepared to discriminate against polyamorous groups in redefining marriage? What limits is the homosexual community prepared to place on its new definition of marriage?

>>So the real question is just WHY do some feel they need the term marriage applied to their lives?<<

I don't know: de facto couples have the same rights under the law as married couples. But some couples aren't happy just to have the same legal rights: they want to get married. Does it really matter that much why some people want to get married and others don't? Some people just do. Some don't. I see no reason to deny them the choice just because they want to marry somebody of the same sex.

Cheers,

Tony