Bob Hawke has become the first Australian Prime Minister to publicly announce his support of same-sex marriage. The former Prime Minister announced his support whilst sat next to John Howard during a joint interview yesterday.
Despite Howard’s opposition to same-sex marriage, Hawke pressed on with his views – ‘I’m very much in favour of the law being changed to enable marriage between gay people. I feel very deeply on all issues of discrimination, and in this area of sexual discrimination it just needs to be said straight-forwardly – you can be born with curly hair, you can be born with this gene-disposition towards homosexuality.’
The support has been welcomed my marriage equality advocates, who say Hawke’s views reflect the stance of many Labor party members and voters.
Australian Marriage Equality national convener, Rodney Croome, stated – ‘The majority of Labor members and voters who support marriage equality have found a voice and a champion in Bob Hawke.
‘His unequivocal support for marriage equality will deepen disappointment over our current Labor Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, who inexplicably continues to oppose equality.’
Newly elected Sydney MP Alex Greenwich tweeted in congratulations of Hawke’s newly found public stance:
‘Good on Fmr PM Bob Hawke coming out in support of #marriageequality, he is still in-tune with the values Labor’s grassroots hold dear [SIC]’.
Despite Hawke’s support, former Prime Minister John Howard still vocalised his opposition to marriage equality.
Nadine Walker
