IT WAS US president Abraham Lincoln who defined democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people”.
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More than 150 years later, these 10 simple words remain the most lucid explanation of a complex political system.
Contrary to claims, the gay marriage plebiscite proposed by the Coalition is not an example of democracy at work.
Rather, it is a cynical tactic cooked up by power brokers on the Coalition’s right to delay the inevitable march towards marriage equality.
If the members of the 45th federal parliament were to conduct a free vote on same-sex marriage legislation, it would pass into law.
Given all credible polls indicate public support for legalising gay marriage is at 60 to 70 per cent and growing, this would be a just outcome.
There have only been three plebiscites since Australia was federated in 1901.
Two related to the serious issue of conscription during the First World War, and the third, in 1977, to choose a national song.
Never has a plebiscite been conducted on a matter so personal and so fraught with emotion as same-sex marriage.
The LGBTI community in Australia has fought homophobic-driven persecution for more than a century to reach this point.
The legalisation of gay marriage will not bring this long-running battle to alter attitudes and achieve acceptance to a neat conclusion.
However, it would be a significant step forward in a campaign in which ultimately the sole aim is no more and no less than allowing people to be themselves.
Enlightenment has not come quickly but, except for some pockets of stubborn resistance, it has come. This country does not require a plebiscite to confirm that, it is evident in the make-up of the parliament.
To hold a plebiscite now will only give voice to a vocal and often vicious minority whose views have not, and probably will not, ever change.
No good can come from trawling over the issue yet again, with gay marriage opponents trotting out the same old dated and debunked arguments.
The plebiscite will not make it any easier for a gay teenager to come out to his or her parents and peers. In fact, against the inevitable background of bile, it would only be exponentially more difficult.
- Ross Tyson, deputy editor
