Australia: Conservative Libs to offer new gay marriage bill, by Simon Benson. The postal marriage survey results will be announced on Wednesday, and the widespread expectation is that it will give a “yes” to same-sex marriage.
A conservative-backed same-sex marriage bill enshrining wide-reaching shield laws for celebrants, businesses, educators, charities and parents opposed to gay marriage will be taken to the Coalition partyroom in a looming showdown over freedom of speech and religious protections.
The 34-page bill, obtained by The Australian and to be released today by conservative Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson, would override state and territory anti-discrimination and freedom-of-speech laws to extend protections beyond religious affiliation to anyone who holds a “conscientious belief” in traditional marriage.
Significantly, the bill also includes a “safe schools” clause to confer rights to parents who want to remove their children from classes if they believe the values being taught do not accord with a traditional view of marriage.
In what will become a potentially critical test of Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership, the bill will be taken to the Liberals’ partyroom when it next meets in two weeks and presented as an alternative model to that favoured by moderates and sponsored by Liberal senator Dean Smith, which offers only limited protection. …
“If the parliament opts for a narrower bill with fewer protections, I fear we will see some Australians seek to impose their values on others, with court cases and other legal mechanisms. No one should want to see the messy court cases that have occurred after same-sex marriage was legalised in other countries,” Senator Paterson said. …
Here’s an interesting principle by Senator Paterson:
“These protections are important because it should be possible for Australians with different values to live harmoniously alongside each other. All Australians should be able to live their lives according to their own values. No group should impose their values on another group.“
What does that say about the leftist activists who are changing our culture and denigrating non-PC people as deplorables, and what does it say about supremacist ideologies like communism and Islam?
hat-tip Stephen Neil
