so yesterday so some court in Australia overruled the a decision that to my understanding was passed through parliament in the ACT in Australia about 'gay marriage'.
Whilst I don't really have a strong political view on anything, this is a subject that is close to my heart.
it may be a little off topic for the blog, but I am feeling the need to have a rant about this, so here it is.
FOR FUCKS SAKE PEOPLE WHAT IT IS ANY OF ANYBODY ELSE'S BUSINESS WHO I MARRY?
TO THOSE OF YOU WHO OPPOSE GAY MARRIAGE - WHAT RIGHT DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO TELL ME THAT MY LOVE FOR ANOTHER PERSON IS WRONG INDECENT AND ILLEGAL.?
Can you for one moment imagine how you would feel if someone told you that your family unit was wrong, perverse, and that you have no right to be in this relationship that you have chosen to be in.
I imagine you would be just as offended as I am.
Fortunately for me I live in Sweden, with my wife Sofi and our son, as an Australian I find it wonderful to live in a country where people are so accepting and supportive of homosexuality. Here in Stockholm I have never been made to feel less than because I am in love with someone of the same gender, nor because we have chosen to be married, for this and many other reasons my life here in Stockholm is so much better than my life ever was back in Australia.
I want to talk a little about marriage what I think it is and why it is that we chose to get married.
I have had in the past people say to me why would you get married, and then they go ahead and state their reasons why not to get married, and I respect them for their choice.
But as I have gotten older I have watched the institution of marriage grow and change with the times.
my observation is that when my parents were young it was something that you did.
Growing up in middle class white Australia it was definitely something that you did, as a woman you needed a man to look after you.
If you were a man it was your job to find a woman settle down have a family and bring home the bacon.
When I was a teenager all those baby boomer's had their mid life crisis and got divorced.
I am a child of a marriage that made it, my parents are still together today, and I respect them greatly for that.
But marriage is no longer something that you do because that is what you did back then.
To me it is a commitment, it is saying to the other person not just that I love you, but I choose you, through thick and thin I choose you for as long as it lasts.
It is a statement of commitment not a statement of belonging.
I don't own my wife(and of course she doesn't on me), we choose to be together each and every day, and I believe we are both the richer for it.
But there are other reasons for us to marry, here in Sweden the de-facto laws that exist in Australia do not exist here, and so no matter how long we live together because these laws don't exist as partners we have no legal rights to the others estate, as a married couple this situation changes and we have legal rights and obligations to each other.
This make sense to me, and as I said is another reason for us to marry.
Also there is rights and responsibility to children. Within the Swedish system although I did not give birth to our son, I am however considered his parent with out the need for me to adopt him, (this was also a big one for me).
So I think its high time that society in Australia and other countries in the world who choose to hold onto their ideas of marriage should at least consider this.
Marriage is an agreement between two people full stop.
If you chose to make your union under your god then so be it, I firmly believe you have that right. But I also believe that you have no right whatsoever to tell me that I am not eligible for the same rights that you have simply because I like girls.
( I have done some serious searching in my life and I can tell you that the fact that I like girls is not a choice its chemical and biological and if I liked boys as much as I like girls I would probably not be writing this post but that fact of the matter is I really like girls - especially my wife, she's the best one ever!)
Change happens people, it is inevitable. - and marriage has changed, but the big thing is you can choose to make of it what you will.
I am saddened that in my home country this debate continues, and that my rights as a human are not being acknowledged, that my marriage is not acknowledged and that when I go home I am made to feel less than.
So for now I will stay in forward thinking Sweden and enjoy a life that is respectful of my choices, and hope that soon -very soon, people will come to their senses, realise that love is love and that we all have rights, not just a select few.
J
