Labor Party Confirm They Will Be Blocking The Plebiscite On Gay Marriage

The ALP have deaded the marriage equality plebiscite – but, what does this actually mean?

It's finally been confirmed that the plebiscite, a public vote on the approval of gay marriage, will be officially blocked by the Labor Party. The party currently has the backing of the Greens, Nick Xenophon Team and Derryn Hinch who will disallow its passing in parliament. Labor leader Bill Shorten has said the decision was made based on expert opinions including mental health professionals, and the Australian LGBTI community.

Shorten added that the campaigning against the change "could cause harm to gay and lesbian people, particularly, but not exclusively, young people,” and that the government’s proposal was simply a “shocking waste of $200 million plus”. Shorten intends to continue aiming for a free vote in parliament, and is hoping this forces PM Malcolm Turnbull's hand on the issue.

Attorney-General George Brandis had released draft amendments to the Marriage Act on Monday. The changes would redefine marriage as between "two people" instead of a "man and a woman" but would also allow ministers of religion and non-religious celebrants to refuse to marry a same-sex couple, among other regressive additions. But that was before being completely denied by Labor.

Meanwhile, the Australian Christian Lobby actually thanked Bill Shorten for his "helpful" and "important" role in stopping the approval of same-sex marriage, with a key spokesperson explaining he had delivered "the gift of time" to continue building their campaign. Of course. While blocking the plebiscite is a step in the right direction, this whole thing has taken way too long – let's just hope Shorten manages to initiate the free vote so we can finally get this damn thing going.

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