Senators Pauline Hanson and Sarah Hanson-Young debate same-sex marriage on Sunrise

ONE Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she will be voting “no” in same-sex marriage postal vote but are her reasons justified?

ONE Nation senator Pauline Hanson has raised concerns about same-sex marriage during an appearance on Sunrise this morning.

Ms Hanson clashed with Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who will vote Yes in the postal survey, over the issue saying she had “grave” concerns.

“I do believe people have a right to live in peace and harmony and love each other by all means, but I think the word marriage is between a man and a woman,” she said.

Ms Hanson said if it was called something else, like “civil marriage” then that would be “fair enough” but she also confirmed she would vote for it in parliament if the majority of Australians wanted it.

So are Ms Hanson’s concerns justified?

Marriage is between a man and a woman

Australia’s first Marriage Act was introduced in 1961 and set the minimum age you could get married as 18 but did not define marriage.

Former prime minister John Howard changed the Marriage Act in 2004 to ensure it stated that marriage was between a “man and a woman” and that gay marriages, which had begun to be legalised overseas, would not be recognised in Australia.

Interestingly before the national Marriage Act was introduced, each state had different laws, including laws in the Northern Territory that did not allow unions between indigenous women and non-indigenous men, and previously set the minimum age of marriage for women in some states as young as 12 years old.

Are they going to implement multiple marriages?

Polygamy is illegal in Australia, something that Mr Howard also cemented in his changes to the Marriage Act when he included the phrase “to the exclusion of all others”.

This could be changed but considering the obstacles the LGBTI community have faced in getting same-sex marriage legalised, it’s unlikely there would be enough public support for this.

Ms Hanson-Young said using the “slippery slope” argument to deny people equality was a “lazy response to this issue.”

I have concerns about ... children in same sex marriages

Ms Hanson is not the only person to be worried about this issue, Mr Howard also told The Australian there was “clear evidence” the long-term outcomes for children who had a mother and father were superior.

But the Australian Medical Association and the Australia Psychological Society said there was no scientific evidence children of heterosexual parents experienced better outcomes.

“Research confirms that it is the quality of parenting and of relationships and not the gender of parents or make-up of families that determine the healthy development of children. To suggest otherwise is to ignore years of scientific research and study,” APS public interest manager Heather Gridley said in 2012.

The APS supports the legalisation of same-sex marriage, along with the AMA, which said discrimination had a “severe, damaging impact on mental and physiological health outcomes”.

Senator Pauline Hanson appeared on Sunrise to discuss the same-sex marriage postal survey.

Are people not going to be able to call their parents mum and dad?

Senator Hanson said: “Are people going to be stripped of saying ... you cannot call this person mum, you cannot call that person dad because it’s going to offend those families ... who have parents of the same sex?”

Ms Hanson-Young said: “This has nothing to do with restricting the rights of other people.

“This is actually about giving more freedom to a large number of people in the Australian community who for far too long have been considered second class citizens under the law and it’s time we ended that discrimination. This is about love.”

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