The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey and the Limitations of Vulnerability-based Politics

ABSTRACT

This article investigates opposition to the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, which surveyed Australians on their position on marriage equality from September to November 2017. Opposition to the hosting of a public vote on marriage equality was based in a perceived vulnerability of LGBTIQ Australians, with marriage equality advocates taking what Tietze (2016) described as a ‘dark view of the voting public’. While acknowledging the high levels of homophobic rhetoric that occurred during the postal survey, and the impacts that public votes can have on the mental health of LGBTIQ people, the article argues this ‘dark view’ was overstated. This article argues that opposition to the survey reinforced vulnerability within LGBTIQ Australians, promoting an increased reliance on the state for protection and recognition. Opposition ignored the democratic potential of the survey, particularly as an opportunity to further debate on LGBTIQ issues and to reduce broader societal homophobia. Despite the eventual yes vote therefore, approaches to the postal survey missed a political opportunity, likely leaving LGBTIQ Australians and the Australian queer movement in a weaker position than previously.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Simon Copland is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the Australian National University (ANU), studying the attachment to men’s rights groups and communities, primarily online. He has a Masters in Science Communication, is a freelance writer and the co-producer of the podcast Queers. He had a chapter in the book Bent Street in 2017 (with Mary Lou Rasmussen) and in How to Vote Progressive in Australia in 2016.

Notes on contributor

Simon Copland is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the Australian National University (ANU), studying the attachment to men’s rights groups and communities, primarily online. He has a Masters in Science Communication, is a freelance writer and the co-producer of the podcast Queers. He had a chapter in the book Bent Street in 2017 (with Mary Lou Rasmussen) and in How to Vote Progressive in Australia in 2016.

Notes

1. This article will use the term ‘marriage equality advocates’ or simply ‘advocates’ to discuss campaigners, political parties, and organisations running and involved in the campaign to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, marriage equality-specific organisations AME and The Equality Campaign, alongside large progressive organisations such as GetUp!, some trade unions, and a range of politicians and political party structures. It also includes high-profile LGBTIQ Australians who speak regularly on this issue.

2. For the rest of this article I will distinguish between the postal survey, a plebiscite and a ‘public vote’. The postal survey will refer to the final mechanism used by the Australian Government, in which the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a survey by post of the Australian population. I will use the term plebiscite to refer to previous attempts from the Federal Government to host a non-binding vote conducted in a similar way to a referendum or election. I will use the term ‘public vote’ as a term that incorporates both of these elements, describing any attempt to host a vote or survey on marriage equality.