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Week 7, Semester 2, 2017
Woroni ISSUE 10, VOL. 67. Week 7, Semester 2, 2017
Text: Jasper Lindell
which has unleashed renewed vitriol directed towards LGBTI* people.
Rainbows are out in force on campus, as students express their strong support for the YES campaign in the government’s postal survey on marriage equality.
Survey forms arrived earlier than expected in Canberra last week, forcing student activists to gear up their efforts to secure a YES vote in the national, non-binding survey.
The survey, which was cleared by a unanimous High Court decision on 6 September, is being sent out to Australians enrolled to vote by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The federal government has committed to introducing legislation into parliament if a YES vote is recorded to legalise same-sex marriage, even as some MPs have vowed to vote ‘no’ regardless. The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull,
Critics have slammed the survey,
who has stated his support samesex marriage, is staring down critics within his own party on this vote, some of whom have actively fought against rights for LGBTI* people for decades. The president of the ANU Students’ Association, James Connolly, said ANUSA ‘wholeheartedly supports a YES vote for marriage equality.’ The association took the position to a general meeting last term which was endorsed by a student vote, securing a mandate for the campaign.
‘Whilst we are hopeful that the YES vote will prevail, according to reports the No campaign has spent five times more on TV ads than the YES campaign, which is of concern. That’s why it’s so important that for anyone who feels comfortable, to get involved by contacting the ANUSA education officer, Australian Marriage Equality or other organisations promoting the YES vote and seeing how they can help in this campaign,’ Connolly said at the weekend. CONTINUED PAGE 4