Fight for equality, fight for liberation
The same-sex marriage campaign has been exceptional in recent Australian politics, giving rise to sustained mobilisations involving tens of thousands of people in spirited protest. It has repeatedly forced the question of LGBTI equality into the public spotlight, despite the wishes of the political establishment. Marriage equality is now an issue with tremendous public support.
One of the greatest strengths of the campaign in Australia has been its focus on opposing homophobic discrimination. Unlike in the US, where the campaign is primarily driven by a desire to marry on the part of LGBTI people, the demonstrations in Australia have never focused on the virtues of marriage. Rather, the rallies have created a platform for a broader understanding, and denunciation, of the various manifestations of homophobia in society today.
Representatives from the trade union movement have spoken on the corrosive effect of homophobia in the workplace. Sports players such as Jason Ball have spelled out the isolating and divisive impact of homophobia in the AFL. High school students have spoken of the crippling under-confidence they feel at being the targets of discriminatory policies in schools. Trans activists have shared their experiences of being forced to assign themselves to a gender they don’t identify with.
The systemic discrimination and ideological vilification that LGBTI people experience is a reflection of the control capitalism exerts over people’s sexuality - being forced to conform to gender and sexual stereotypes, having specific age of consent laws, seeing our freedom to choose our own relationships restricted by laws limiting access to adoption, surrogacy and marriage rights, having to get permission from a medical board to identify our own gender. We can’t even have control over the most intimate and personal aspects of our lives, and this makes it easier for the system to control us more broadly.
Homophobia, like all forms of oppression under capitalism, serves to divide the working class, making us fight amongst ourselves rather than uniting against our common enemy at the top of society. According to one study carried out by the Australian Centre for Lesbian and Gay Research, more than two-thirds of lesbians and more than 50 percent of gay men had experienced homophobic hostility or violence, including ridicule, sexual harassment, accusations of pedophilia and physical abuse. A significant proportion reported being denied workplace entitlements.
Struggle in the workplace and on the streets is crucial to breaking down homophobic attitudes. If workers are involved in any sort of dispute or industrial action to improve their pay and conditions, or over a political issue, the practical importance of unity and mutual respect tends to become clear.
One of the greatest achievements of the same-sex marriage campaign has been its ability to win public support in almost every demographic of society. It has undermined the isolating effects of homophobia by uniting both straight and LGBTI people in a campaign for equality. And in turn, it has given confidence to LGBTI workers and students, both young and old, to come out and be proud, to challenge the discrimination we face on a daily basis.
This has created the basis for people to fight for more: for sexual liberation and human liberation more broadly. Yet as the campaign for marriage equality has shown, winning even the most basic rights under this system is a real struggle. Those parasites at the top of society who enforce oppression and benefit from it will never just give us our rights.
So the more we can beat back their oppressive agenda and challenge divisive ideas in society today, the better placed we are to unite in the struggles of the future.
