Australia is, in general, pretty proud of its diversity

Dear Dr. Andrew Leigh,

I've never really been the type of person to write letters. I moved here from Melbourne from a blue ribbon Liberal seat with one of the few Liberal members who I felt had something valuable to say and practically no chance of ever being a swinging seat judging by the entirely Liberal history of the seat. Coming from an area where there's no chance of a political change, I'd never really gotten into politics. There wasn't much of a reason; I wasn't eighteen yet, my seat never had any chance of changing and my friends weren't that interested in it.

Coming to university though was one of those thoroughly eye-opening experiences. I've seen people from all ends of the political spectrum, political opinions I never even thought that people would hold and people whose political views I broadly agree with, but just find incredibly irritating. In the highly political environment that is university, it's pretty much mandatory to form at least some political views. These political views do come from somewhere and a significant portion of mine come from the fact I'm gay. Yes, it's another letter about gay marriage.

It's tiring to hear the feeble arguments against gay marriage trotted out by the government and far too many community groups. At the end of the day, people should be able to choose who they marry, whether it be a heterosexual couple or a homosexual couple. Although I don't want to get married at the moment, I certainly want to have the option of marriage and the legal recognition of my relationship. Love is love, no matter whether it be of a straight couple or a same-sex couple. 

Australia is, in general, pretty proud of its diversity. Sure there are instances of racism and homophobia and other forms of discrimination, but it's definitely better than many other places. It seems pretty clear to me that there's no real reason to forbid gay marriage. We pride ourselves on equality, a fair go, and gay marriage is one of the barriers to this egalitarian society we pride ourselves on.

Thank you for your time,

Stuart Ferrie