After 12 months of nationwide campaigning, Equal Love’s National Year of Action for Same-Sex Marriage has come to an end.
Tens of thousands of people turned out across the country in support of marriage equality over the five rallies held since November 2009.
Gay And Lesbian Equality (GALE) co-convenor Shane Cucow has been one of the WA rally organisers with Equal Love and Families4Freedom.
Cucow said this year’s rallies have drawn the largest number of supporters since the 2002 law reforms.
‘The National Year of Action turned a niggling issue into a constant issue,’ Cucow said.
He said the rallies have acted as a ‘vital catalyst’ for undecided parliamentarians who don’t care about the issue.
‘Now they have a reason to give it some thought and consider it,’ he said.
Cucow believed same-sex marriage was ‘impossible to ignore’ for Australian MPs who must now engage with their local electorates on the issue.
‘The issue of same-sex marriage wouldn’t be consuming so much time in parliament now if they didn’t spend so much time discriminating against a minority,’ he said.
‘It doesn’t affect anyone except the people who it discriminates against.’
Fremantle Labor MP Melissa Parke has broken away from party policy to support the cause after heavy lobbying from constituents.
The rallies began in November 2009 after the Federal Senate committee finished their inquiry into marriage equality, having decided not to amend the Marriage Act to include same-sex relationships.
Just days later, Equal Love gathered its forces from around the country and launched the first of five rallies held in the majority of capital cities.
In Perth, the first rally only drew 100 people, according to Cucow, however attendance increased at each rally afterwards except for the final one.
The biggest turn-out fell on the anniversary of the Howard government’s introduction of the gay marriage ban legislation in 2004 with around 1,200 people convening in Perth.
Cucow estimated around 2,500 people attended the rallies over the year in Perth alone. He said no definite future action was planned just yet as the National Year of Action officially ended last month.
However Equal Love and the other organisations would be making a ‘concerted effort to turn public support into action’.
