Textile Union Secretary Michele O'Neil The Victorian ALP state conference is urging Julia Gillard to "get over it" and legalise gay marriage. All but the conservative shop assistant's union voted for the urgency motion. Ms Gillard has regularly reiterated her opposition to gay marriage, but the Sydney Morning Herald reports a strong move is expected at the national conference to change the party's platform, which will put pressure on the federal government to amend the Marriage Act. The Victorian branch passed a motion in 2009 in support of gay marriage, and today reiterated that support, calling on the ALP to change the national policy. New South Wales is now the only state not to have voted in support of gay marriage. Textile Union Secretary Michele O'Neil told the state party's delegates that the gay marriage debate was about choice, fairness and rights". "In this country we used to try to control if you were an Aboriginal person, who you could marry ... In a decade, the people in this room will shake their heads in disgust ... that we try to control who we can choose to love, who we choose to commit to," she said, adding the party should just "get over it" and change the law.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 8th October 2011 - 10:34pm