However much Australians may like to portray the USA as being far more conservative and religious than us, the growing number of states in the USA which are legalising same-sex marriage suggests the reality may be somewhat different.
The state of Vermont has become the first state to pass legislation to explicitly make same-sex marriages legal. It joins three others where same sex marriage is legal due to court rulings – Iowa, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
New Hampshire’s legislature is half way through passing a similar law (which may still be overturned by the Governor’s veto) and there is a concerted campaign to get all six of the north-eastern New England states to recognise same sex marriage over the next few years.
There is still a long way to go in many states, but as both major parties in Australia maintain their support for the federal legislation preventing same-sex marriages being legalised or recognised in Australia – passed with the support of Latham-led Labor in 2004 – it will be quite a while before Australia catches up to the USA on this issue.
As same sex marriages become more and more common on other countries, Australia’s refusal to recognise such unions will start to present difficulties – especially in the migration area. There will continue to be a lot of competition between industrialised countries for skilled and business migrants, and Australia will be put at a growing disadvantage in attracting same-sex couples who are legally married. This won’t be a huge proportion of migrants, married or otherwise, but it won’t help Australia’s ability to sufficient numbers of migrants.
