I just had an interesting thought regarding Julia Gillard and her views on same-sex marriage.

Support for same-sex marriage is only going to grow, it will be a Labor government that brings it in to law.

What are your thoughts on my idea that perhaps Julia Gillard only came out against same-sex marriage early on, (and when no election was looming) only so she could "see the light!" later on (before an election) and get the popularity boost then, when it would benefit her most?

Everyone loves a "rags to riches", "seen the light", "bad turned good" story. Perhaps this is what Julia Gillard is trying to achieve?

Because lets be honest, politics is about politics. There's no reason for her to support same-sex marriage if it isn't going to do anything for her. But if before hte next election she gives a "heartfelt" and "genuine" apology, and says she will make same-sex marriage law, it would generate a lot of positive attention for her.

Thoughts on this conspiracy theory of mine?

good thought
politicians are trolls

Interesting conspiracy.. makes sense too. I think everyone agrees that politicians do things for self serving reasons.

Though, i wonder if it matters as long as marraige equality is achieved in Australia? Maybe it can be a win-win situation for Julia and the equal rights movement??

i heart conspiracy theories.

Gillard's comment that she thinks this way because 'that was what she was brought up to think" is outrageous. If she applied that logic to everything else she thinks then she would never have developed any opinions of her own - and in affect we would be voting for a clone of her parents. In reality she is pandering to the deep seated Catholic hub of the Labour party, and is just hedging her bets siding with what she perceives to be the greatest amount of votes, both inside and outside the party. Everyone is expecting the Labour conference in November to endorse same-sex marriage - but I wouldn't be getting too excited about it. Gillard hasn't shown herself to have any personal fortitude or strength of commitment and rolls with the polls, and despite the poles showing a majority of Australians are on board with same-sex marriage - we don't live in a one person one vote society and she will be looking at how many seats she would loose if she supported this proposal.

That would actually make a lot of sense. I wouldn't put it past her.

Didn't the changes the Howard government made to the marriages act open it up for the individual states to legalize gay marriage not the federal government?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheshire

Didn't the changes the Howard government made to the marriages act open it up for the individual states to legalize gay marriage not the federal government?

Id like to know more about that...

Quote:

Originally Posted by badamj2000

Id like to know more about that...

howard went out of his way to make it more difficult for gay people to get married, and also changed the laws here to deny gay people who were married over seas from having any status here - Howard was a complte C**T when it came to this sort of homophobic prejudices!!!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by poodlepower007

… changed the laws…

his govt. didn't concede the big one but they did do over 100 smaller one which were of benefit

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If I thought she really felt strongly against gay marriage I wouldn't like it but I'd accept it. But I don't believe that what she really feels, which is why I find it hard to respect her. I think she will change her mind, but with so much against her the last thing she needs is another front to which to have to fight the right wingers on. I also worry about the influence of the Christian lobby, which makes such a no brainer in supporting gay marriage such a political hot potato.