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Marriage Equality: Why is the opposition so weak?

Mon 11 Jun 2012 In: Features View at NDHA

Harold Bishop opposes marriage equality too! Over the last month or so, John Key's triangulation attempts have triggered off a new national debate on same-sex marriage. However, what is striking is the relative weakness of the antigay lobby this time. Why is this? One is the economic context- with a recession on, fewer people have disposable income to give to charities, and Family First is a charity. One witnesses the fall in the number of donors to its annual Forum on the Family effort on June 28, for instance. Added to which, as it has become increasingly clear that Colin Craig and his party are fundamentalists in unconvincing camouflage, the Conservative Party has dropped down to a single percentage point in the polls. A second factor is the social context. New Zealand is an increasingly secularised nation-and it's starting to catch up with the Christian Right in terms of available donor sources and demographic scale. This is especially the case amongst younger New Zealanders, and they vote centre-left. In effect, there's a major disconnect between fundamentalists and a key generation cohort. Time and demographics are not on their side as antigay fundamentalist supporter cohorts die off. A third factor is the anti-science/anti-expertise inertial drag on Family First and the Conservative Party. It started with the corporal punishment of children ban, but this time, it's working against them. It's all very well to ruminate about tradition and go into hysterics about polygamy, polyamory, polyandry and consensual adult incest (!?!), but it's not getting them any significant media coverage. When it comes to adoption equality, the child welfare angle is the one that is wielded, but we can easily counter that with data from multiple pediatric and developmental psychology studies. A fourth factor is the international momentum of marriage equality politics. How 'radical' is marriage equality as a social issue when the British Conservative Party is the one conducting a national inquiry into the introduction of same-sex marriage and when its Prime Minister, David Cameron, repeatedly states his support for it? Or, for that matter, Stephen Harper's Tory government in Canada? Or much of northwestern Europe, as well- Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain already have same-sex marriage, with France probably about to join it, pending the election of a Socialist majority in its National Assembly later this month. Granted, Australia and the United States are holdouts, but they're out of step with the rest of the mainstream western world. A fifth factor is the modesty and incrementalism of reforms like marriage equality and adoption reform. They are relatively minor reforms of existing legislation and institutions and are not seen as radical adjustments to New Zealand politics. Added to which, the wisdom of civil unions as a pragmatic interim measure can now be seen in retrospect, as our fellow straight New Zealand citizens have gotten used to the concept of substantive LGBT relationship equality and ask themselves why that can't be extended to civil marriage reform. A sixth and final factor is identity stigma. To put it bluntly, if it squeals in a porcine manner, has a curly tail and provides bacon when eaten, then it is probably a pig. New Zealanders are not fools and they don't like conservative Christian self-appointed "moral guardians." They've seen the damage that they've done in the United States and it may well be that New Zealand's general public is somewhat concerned at the militancy and aggressive religious conservatism displayed in that country. It doesn't travel well to be labelled satellites of US religious social conservatives and not to have deep roots in New Zealand society. The New Zealand Christian Right is a dependent social movement- it obtains its propaganda, tactics and strategy from the US Christian Right. It sounds Americanised and has insufficiently adapted to its host culture. This may have repercussions for the Conservative Party at the next New Zealand election in 2014. If the National Party decided to throw Colin Craig a lifeline, would it risk becoming a 'toxic trio' scenario if the party becomes too clearly identified with unpopular religious social conservatism and a voter liability in the interim? Shades of 1996. Finally, one interesting question remains. Given the weakness of opposition to same-sex marriage in New Zealand, how much longer can Prime Minister John Key maintain a purely symbolic stance when it comes to support for marriage equality and adoption reform? He runs a real risk of being outflanked by liberalising public opinion and rising resentment if he doesn't act and guarantee bipartisan liberal support for the introduction and passage of reform legislation. One suspects that he may well be trying to delay dealing with the question, but how long is that going to work for him and his party? Recommended: Marriage Equality NZ: http://www.marriageequality.co.nz Not Recommended: Conservative Party: http://www.conservativeparty.org.nz Family First: http://www.familyfirst.org.nz Politics and religion commentator Craig Young - 11th June 2012    

Credit: Politics and religion commentator Craig Young

First published: Monday, 11th June 2012 - 10:29am

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