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LGBT News Australians to vote on same-sex marriage in November... by post

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Aussie792, Aug 10, 2017.

  1. Destroyed

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    Is there an opinion poll, on which side may win.
     
  2. HuskyPup

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    Well, I hope the vote are gathered up, and delivered in the pouches of an army of Kangaroos! They need to make this fun.

    Sure hope everything goes OK, there.
     
  3. Spot

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    I've heard it was 70% for and 30% against although that may be incorrect...we've (my family) voted and sent our letters back to Canberra in any case :gay_pride_flag::flag_au:

    *people are receiving their letters now, I believe the results are revealed in November. We don't vote in November.
     
    #23 Spot, Sep 17, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2017
  4. PatrickUK

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    Australians are regarded as no nonsense people who always speak their minds, so a high vote in favour of same sex marriage will send out a clear and positive message to the world about the shift in public attitudes over the last few decades and it will follow on from Irelands positive endorsement of same sex marriage a year or two ago.

    There's been a lot of controversy about the way the vote is being conducted, but the Australian requirement to participate provides a clearer picture of the views of a nation towards gay rights than any poll or survey. I'm hoping for a massive vote in favour that cannot be ignored.
     
  5. Isaacsolomon

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    While I naturally hope that the 'Yes'/pro-equality side wins, I don't think Australians (or anyone) should be having to decide this via a referendum. I felt this way when Ireland voted, and the UK's disastrous referendum last year hasn't improved my attitude towards them (can you guess which way I voted?). I'm glad in England and Wales, and Scotland, marriage equality was decided by Parliament; I remember thinking that the bigots would probably get more money and the 'no' side would win, or just set public discourse back. But that's my own political 'rant' out there. Good luck to Australians, I'll be thinking of you all.
     
  6. Aussie792

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    To be quite fair, Australians are also politically hysterical and have a national psyche of insecurity and love backlash more than being constructive. The campaign is currently quite insane as a result of those things - nobody has any idea what this is about because it's very easy to turn this into a vote against political correctness, Malcolm Turnbull and a no vote can be just out of sheer spite for LGBTI people having the gall to campaign in a vote most straight people wanted to happen but hated once it felt like a political campaign.
     
  7. azure au

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    Here is a straight forward Aussie attitude I heard at the pub on Friday night, a man told me he had voted yes because it will stop 'the gays' spreading AIDS. At least he voted yes I thought, then he said he had written it on the form too.
     
  8. Spot

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    I'm pretty sure that writing on the form means that the vote won't be counted...once we got the letter in the mail, I read it and it had very explicit instructions on where and how you're allowed to mark the paper (one tick, inside either box). So yeah, I think that'll be useless.

    I've heard through the grapevine that it's not necessary to vote on the plebiscite anyway so I'm really starting to question whether or not there'll be any positive outcome at all.

    In related news, there's supposedly going to be a 'straight pride parade' held in Sydney and there's some #straightlivesmatter thing going around in reaction to the plebiscite. To quote Professor Farnsworth, "I don't want to live on this planet anymore."
    :expressionless:
     
  9. azure au

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    Farnsworth really has a way with words.
    Yes it does invalidate the vote and that raises another issue, the lack of instruction on the ballot. I get that it's a survey and not a vote by the normal definition however I honestly expected some guidelines, tick, cross or shade etc. There was no information at all.

    I really wish I had known about the straight lives matter march, the gent I spoke with at the pub on Friday would have fit right in I suspect.
     
  10. frappuccno

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    Wish I could vote too >.<. Sadly Im just an international student here. I wish to hear victory soon :slight_smile:
     
  11. EvaDream

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    I heard that one of my relatives voted Yes because she was sick of hearing about it. Her daughter, who told me about this, was surprised she'd voted Yes, based on past opinions. I kind of think this is a good sign. I mean, someone who's a bit homophobic voting Yes rather than voting no or, even, abstaining.

    I don't for a second forget that there's still a lot of bigoted people here in Australia, but this whole stupid, plebiscite/survey thing may have actually served a purpose in amongst all the nastiness. To even discuss whether LGBTIQA people are equal is crap, but that is where we're at. Pointing out to people why this is crap. Pointing out that kids of same-sex families are doing the same as other kids (barring the stigma homophobes create). If we go through all this crap and get it done, nobody is going to want to 'undo' it legally, because they know we'll fight for it all over again.
     
  12. Aussie792

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    An update on the progress of the survey. 57% of forms have been returned successfully to the ABS and, according to a Sky News Reachtel poll (linked in the article), "79 per cent of respondents said they had already voted, with 64 per cent having voted "yes" and 15 per cent having voted "no"." Those figures include people yet to submit their forms or forms yet to be accounted for by the ABS due to postal delays.

    Breaking down participation, 80% of over-65s have participated in the survey and 69% of people 18-24 have, though a further 17% say they intend to submit their forms.

    There is some level of concern that the "no" campaign had a massive financial headstart in campaigning and got free positive coverage from virtually all media providers (be they rabidly conservative or simply attempting a perverse sort of balance), as well as some mistakes from yes campaigners. The majority of votes were submitted in those two weeks, with only the last two weeks being more positive for the "yes" campaign as the "no" campaign did stupid things (using racial segregation as an analogy, a former prime minister trying to get Macklemore banned from singing at the NRL, homophobic violence).

    That turnout and polling response is encouraging but not necessarily certain. Importantly, the conservative wing of the government may still do some more brinkmanship and demand that same-sex marriage come at the cost of eroding discrimination legislation if Turnbull is to survive as prime minister, for example. Only a high turnout (already somewhat guaranteed), combined with a high "yes" vote (not at all guaranteed), is likely to allow the smooth passage of a good same-sex marriage bill through Parliament.
     
    #32 Aussie792, Oct 3, 2017
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2017