Why a lesbian Australian senator of Malaysian-Chinese descent opposed gay marriage vote
It may seem counterintuitive, but politics in the land of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, has twisted the marriage equality debate into a gordian knot
Why would a lesbian Australian senator oppose a public vote on gay marriage? Labor’s Penny Wong did so this week, reasoning that it would lead to forceful, vitriolic ‘no’ campaigns and the kind of homophobia she has fought all her life. She is not alone on this issue.
The plebiscite was blocked on Monday night in Canberra’s Senate or Upper House in a vote of 33 to 29, with Labor, the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team party and Independent Derryn Hinch all joining Wong in voting against.
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“We do not want our families and our children publicly denigrated... This hate speech is not abstract, it is real, it is part of our daily life,” said Wong, a mother of two whose partner conceived through IVF.
Wong is not known as a bleeding heart – as many who’ve had to face her in parliament will attest – but has been measured yet adamant in her criticism of what she sees as hate speech and discrimination.
Wong, whose father was Malaysian-Chinese, has argued against repealing Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which prohibits behaviour or speech meant to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate people of a certain race, colour or national or ethnic origin”.