Blog 3 - Problem Solving; Legalisation of Same-Sex Marriage in Australia

Blog 3 – Problem Solving; Legalisation of Same-Sex Marriage in Australia

Observe the world around you & consider a problem to be solved. Reflect on the:

Problem: What needs to be solved?

Recognition by law of same-sex marriage in Australia.  Same-sex partners can legally be considered de facto partners, and in some states can have a civil union but they are still not legally allowed to marry in Australia.  Not being allowed to marry takes away same-sex couples rights to relationship entitlements that a married couple have access to.

Context: Describe the problem space (e.g. political/cultural, usual practice, technical complexity) 

54% of Australian same-sex couples would marry if they had the choice. 80% support that choice. 56% of same-sex de facto couples and 78% of same-sex civil partner would prefer to marry if they had the choice (Australian Marriage Equality 2013).   

Legalising same-sex marriage is in both a political and cultural problem space; culturally, in failing to allow same-sex marriage our federal law is sending a message to society that it is acceptable to discriminate against a person because of their sexual orientation, and suggests that same-sex partners are not capable of showing love and commitment to one another via marriage.  It excludes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people from the long standing social institution of marriage; the institution which provides health and wellbeing benefits, and security for partners and children.

Politics is what is standing in the way of same-sex marriage being legalised, it has been debated by politicians many times and the bill has been voted down.  The Greens party have brought up the debate again in the House of Representatives bringing forward his bill for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples (Kenny, M 2013). The bill is trying to remove references to the definition of marriage as being exclusively between a man and a women but would not require churches to perform same-sex marriages unless they wanted to (Kenny, M 2013).

Religion also plays a part in the problem space for same-sex marriages becoming legal.  Some religious groups believe marriage is the union of a man and a women and anything outside of that is a sin.

Realities: Describe the practice space (e.g. public/private)

This problem occurs all throughout the world very publicly, but also privately to many people.  Some countries / states have passed laws already that allow same-sex couples to marry so we are on the way to this problem being solved; however there are still many countries it is still illegal.  There are also so many people who have to live with this privately every day, same-sex couples who have been together for many years just have to sit and wait for it to be legal for them to marry.

Actors: Who are the key actors in the network? (e.g. positive / negative effect)

There are both positive and negative effects coming from the government. In Australia, the state and territory governments have extended to same-sex couples some of the legal and economic rights and responsibilities that heterosexual couples receive; which is a positive, but far from all of them though.  Negatively, they still are excluded from the institution of marriage itself, which undermines their basic human rights to equal legal treatment and discriminates against them.

Although there is an ongoing debate whether same-sex marriage should be legal or illegal, the debate has been on constant for years now. One day it may be legal but until then same-sex couples will have to continue fighting for their rights. The positive effect of this problem is that views have shifted in a positive direction, more people are being more accepting of same-sex relationships.

Tensions: What are the tensions from the problem / practice space?

Tensions are the pressure from the government, the debates that can effect whether same-sex marriage will be legal or illegal, and how this law will be changed. How will we convince the government to vote to get this bill passed? Will the religious culture fight for this law to remain illegal?

Problem definition: What would the problem look like if it were solved?

If the laws were passed to make same-sex marriage legal it would remove discrimination of these relationships.  It would allow these couples to have the same economic rights and responsibilities as heterosexual couples, it would also allow health and wellbeing benefits and security for one another and their children.

Concepts: What possible concepts might provide a solution?

We are currently in the longest Australian federal election campaign in history, we have the chance now to talk to the candidates, Labor and Liberal; start the discussion and convince them it is a worthwhile cause.  Convince them that although there are many things in politics that seem more of a priority like paying the bills and getting a quality education, same-sex marriage is important to a portion of our country so it should be important to all of us.

References:

Australian Marriage Equality 2013, Marriage equality facts at a glance, viewed 6^th April 2013,

http://www.australianmarriageequality.com/wp/get-informed/quick-facts/

Kenny, M 2013, Greens to push gay marriage rights, viewed 5^th April 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/greens-to-push-gay-marriage-rights-20130314-2g1gq.html

New Perspectives

Blog 2 – we have been asked to read through three other students’ blogs and talk about how this informed any new perspectives.  It has been great reading all the blogs that have been submitted and it has shown me that each individual has a different contextual lens; and these lenses are influenced by the life each individual has lived to date, upbringing, families, field of employment, life experience and so on. 

The first blog that gave me a new perspective is ‘Armed Robbery on Armaguard cash van’ written by Michele Whillock and can be found http://mwhillock80.wordpress.com/ 

This blog is about an attempted robbery of an armaguard van which staff at a café across the road were filming on their phones.  The first thing I thought of was how brave the staff sounded in the film and how clever to think quick and start filming, getting the number plate and calling the police.  If I was in that situation I would like to think I would do the same but I wonder if the fear of getting spotted and potentially shot would take over and make me want to stay out of it.  When reading Michele’s blog and watching the file I didn’t think of the media influences on this story and I completely agree with Michele’s views on how the media can shape their story to give us the perception that they want us to have and not give us the complete facts so we can come to our own conclusions. 

The next blog that caught my attention was by Steph Willis which can be found http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/blog/index.php?courseid=2039&blogpage=1 

This one caught my attention because such a simple thing like a girl sitting on the side of a road can still bring in so many different peoples perspectives.  It is sad to say that I believe there would be a lot of people today that would just drive past that girl and either not even consider what might be going on; or have a negative perception (ie she is drunk, on drugs) and do nothing.  I never would have considered that the girl could be running away from ‘people from the past’ because I personally have not had any experiences with ghosts.  So my perception would have been very far from the actual reality of the situation.  Very interesting read and made me want to get to the end and find out why the girl was sitting on the side of the road; and shocked me with the reasoning. 

The third blog that caught my interest was by Jake Campbell which can be found http://contextuallens.blogspot.com.au/ 

This blog was a story about Jake’s trip to Fiji and an injury that turned ugly with infection. Reading through this blog I found myself thinking about what I would have done if it was me and initially thinking that Jake was a silly young boy for not getting the graze properly attended to earlier.  Then I remembered about my trip to Cambodia when I was younger and the completely different lives they have in other countries.  Initially, in Cambodia I found myself shocked by how much poverty there was and I was put off by the beggars in the street but the longer I stayed the more I got used to it and my lens of the country changed.  I stopped seeing the poverty and started seeing how amazing and happy the people of Cambodia are with nothing; I also started to get used to living the way they lived and not the way we do in Australia so perhaps if I was to get a graze when I was there I might have left it longer than I would have in Australia because the availability of medical attention would not have been as prevalent.  Very glad the story had a happy ending and Jake has a fully functional leg!