From Iceland — Australian Equal Rights Activists Ask Iceland For Help

Australian Equal Rights Activists Ask Iceland For Help

Published June 30, 2010

Rex Beckett

Australian activist group Australian Marriage Equality has written a
letter to Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðadóttir asking her to
write to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the importance of
equal marriage rights.
PM Gillard is Australia‘s first female prime minister and this week
opposed reform to the country‘s current marriage law. In an Australian
radio interview this morning she stated, “We (the Labor Party) believe
the marriage act is appropriate in its current form, that is recognising
that marriage is between a man and a woman, but we have as a government
taken steps to equalise treatment for gay couples.”
Spokesperson for AME Alex Greenwich says the Prime Minister‘s decision
has let down the 60% of Australians who support same-sex marriage and
that she does not grasp what full equality means.
The group is still hopefull that PM Gillard will reevaluate her decision
and meet with them to put an end to discrimination. As part of their
campaign, they have reached out to the Icelandic Prime Minister, who
just married her same-sex partner Jónina Léosdóttir, to write to PM
Gilliard on equal marriage.
“We have written directly to Prime Minister Sigurðardóttir’s office
asking her to write to Julia Gillard about the importance of marriage
equality at a personal and social level,” said Alex, “Our hope is that
this leader-to-leader contact, especially between two ground-breaking,
centre-left Prime Ministers, will show Julia Gillard that marriage
equality is fundamental to the lives of gay and lesbian people and to a
just society.”

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