Daily Advertiser letters to the editor, August 14

Michael McCormack says that the Riverina is not "ready" for same-sex marriage yet the poll the DA has running on-line shows an 85 per cent approval for same-sex marriage.

One wonders who our MP is referring to as "not ready". Himself, methinks.

I WOULD like to thank Nancy Paul for her fantastic letter (“Keith speaks for me”, DA, August 11).

It really made me realise that homophobic bigots have no idea what they are talking about and that they pose no threat to anyone with half a brain.

I wish to dissect Nancy’s letter for herself, Keith, and all the other homophobes in the community.

I’m a 22 year old gay male, and so far the effects of being homosexual have had no effects on my health.

I have a healthy lifestyle; I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs, and I don’t engage in dangerous activities.

I have never harmed someone else in society, and my sexual orientation has no harmful effects on the community.

In fact, homophobic attitudes have been shown to have detrimental effects on the mental health of youth and adults, including young people taking their own lives due to not being accepted for who they are.

You really need to question who the biggest danger to society is. 

A phobia is an irrational fear of something. Homophobia is the fear of being gay or the fear of gay people.

This is the exact definition that can be placed on your, and Keith’s, attitudes towards a particular group in society. I wish to place emphasis on the fact that phobias are irrational, they pose no real danger, and this is exactly what is evident here.

To disprove me, when was the last time you felt endangered by a LGBTIQ person?

When was the last time a gay person wrote to the local paper to tell you that it was wrong for you to be a woman? Also, I think we have different definitions of the word kindness. 

You say we advertise our sexual orientation “loudly”? I don’t want you to change your life.

I just want to be able to live mine with the same rights as any heterosexual person. I want the option to have my partnership legally recognised. I want the same rights that you have.

The LGBTIQ community don’t want more rights than the heterosexual community, we don’t want things that straight people don’t have, we want equality. 

If we had the power to scare you into submission, don’t you think we would already have equality? We cannot get married in Australia. This just displays your misinformed opinion about what it’s like to be a member of the LGBTIQ community in this country.

The voice you hear for equality is not just the voice of the LGBTIQ community, it also the voice of people who do not share your views and believe in equality for all people in their community, no matter who they love.

There are family members, friends, businesses, organisations and people with their heads screwed on who aren’t going to be any better (or worse) off when equality is reached, yet they understand and accept, and realise that everyone deserves to be treated equally. The fight for marriage equality is not going to go away.

All we want is to be treated as equals in Australian society, nothing more, nothing less.

I hope that one day you can realise how misinformed and bigoted you sound. 

Have a fabulous day!