One senator has compared same-sex marriage to incest in the wake of a senate enquiry that recommends same-sex marriage not be allowed.

Same-sex couples look set to wed in the ACT after the federal government backed down, but a senate enquiry has released its findings and says same-sex couples across the nation should not be allowed to marry.

To add insult to injury, South Australian Family First senator Steve Fielding has come out against same-sex marriage and compared the idea to incest.

“A bloke cannot marry his brother; it is not right,” Fielding is reported saying in The Age. “A woman cannot marry their sister; it is not right. A bloke cannot marry a bloke because it is not right, and a female cannot marry a female because it is not right. I don’t support this.”

Released yesterday, findings from the senate enquiry into The Greens Marriage Equality Amendment Bill indicated that same-sex couples should be given the same rights and recognition as heterosexual couples, but that this should not include marriage.

“It appears that in the eyes of the Senate Committee, all couples are equal but some are more equal than others,” says ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill on the recent findings.

“Despite some issues in relation to social security payments, the Federal Government’s process of same-sex law reform has been of significant benefit to the GLBT community and for that we are most appreciative.

“The Federal Government now has an opportunity to finish the job and demonstrate its commitment to equality and social inclusion by rejecting the Senate Committee’s recommendation and giving same-sex couples the same rights and responsibilities as opposite-sex couples.”

Parkhill says that the exclusion of same-sex couples from the institution of marriage sends a message to wider Australia that same-sex couples are second-class citizens. “Sadly, [the decision] also translates into harassment, abuse and violence,” says Parkhill. “For the same reasons, unequal marriage laws are also harmful to the children and families of same-sex couples.”

While the federal government has approved the ACT’s same-sex marriage laws, Australia’s Attorney General, Robert McClelland, requested modifications to the law.

“The critical difference between the ceremonies originally sought by the ACT and those allowed by the Federal Government is that the latter have little legal effect,” activist Corey Irlam told The Age, “leaving the formal declaration of a civil partnership in the hands of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages and not in the hands of civil partnership celebrants.

“It is a step forward that Prime Minister Rudd has backed off from a veto, but the system the ACT Government has now accepted is still essentially a paper process without legally binding ceremonies.”

Marriage equality rallies are set to take place across the nation tomorrow.