Aug 03 - Secular Humanists Support “No Referendum” Approach To Same Sex Marriage
The SHSG (Secular Humanist Society Gibraltar) says it welcomes the statement made by the Chief Minister on the matter of same sex marriage. The group says it is in no doubt as to the “sincerity and personal conviction of Fabian Picardo who has expressed his personal feelings on the issue on more than one occasion.”
A statement from the society continues:
“The Chief Minister has laid out at least three options two, or perhaps all, of which he may place before the electorate in the upcoming election:
1. A REFERENDUM: as the SHSG and the Equality Rights Group have stated previously we do not feel that matters of human equality ought to be the subject of a referendum in which other people determine who is and who is not entitled to equal rights, people either have equal rights in a secular, democratic civil society, or they don’t (if not can the word democracy actually apply?) We feel that prior to any election the referendum option be ruled out completely.
2. A MANIFESTO PROMISE: clearly the best option of all, there for all to see and a guarantee of a clear intent to promote genuine equality for all. Of course this will have to mean exactly equal rights for every individual, not a segregated ‘special’ provision for those of the same sex.
3. A FREE VOTE: this strikes us as referendum ‘lite’ with a far smaller constituency than an open vote for all, and it comes with its own inherent problems in addition to the ones outlined in earlier exchanges.
“A free vote without the party whip may well allow MPs to vote according to their conscience, but what does this mean in practice?
“As far as we have seen from the media and in debate the only resistance to equality has come from religious objection, is this a valid position in a secular state? We suggest not. Same sex marriage does not demand religious ceremonies or threaten any other person’s faith, it is the simple desire to be treated equally, nothing more, nothing less.
“We appreciate that in view of the compromise suggestion of a free vote, which appears to be under consideration, the Chief Minister may be anticipating resistance from his own party, but as a man of conviction we feel that his personal authority and standing will prevail and a manifesto commitment to ensure true and total equality is delivered, without faith based objections being taken into account at any stage.
“On the Iberian peninsula Gibraltar is the only state that does not have equal rights for all its citizens, Spain granted it in 2005 (in the teeth of fierce opposition from the Catholic Church) Portugal in 2010, not that much further afield France and the UK gave equal rights in 2013, Ireland in 2015, Denmark 2012, Holland 2001, Belgium 2003, Norway 2009, Iceland 2010, Luxemburg 2014. Shall we be so far behind or are we actually waiting to be the last man standing in Europe?
“As Mr. Picardo quite rightly stated: ‘We will not for one moment allow any interference with what religions call marriage.’ We feel sure the LGBT community share this view in respect of religious interference in their lives, so we appear to be in total agreement, let’s get on with it.”
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