Same-sex marriage bill sparks emotional speeches in parliament

EIGHT weeks after the death of her son, MP Linda Burney returned to parliament, revealing how much marriage equality would have meant to him.

AS SPEECHES about same-sex marriage continue in parliament today, many politicians have revealed the deeply personal reasons they have for supporting the issue.

Labor frontbencher Linda Burney choked back tears while explaining she supported marriage equality, saying her 33-year-old son Binni, who died in October, was gay.

“I support marriage equality as someone who has had loved ones who identify as LGBTQI — to them marriage equality would mean so much,” Ms Burney said.

“I honour these people and in particular my late son Binni.

Ms Burney’s son, who struggled with mental health and addiction, was found dead just eight weeks ago but the MP returned to parliament today to honour his memory.

The MP’s voice broke as she recalled the trauma that he had experienced because of his sexuality.

“I support marriage equality as someone as a member of a community that has experienced great discrimination and injustice, to understand what it means to be rejected, to understand what intergenerational trauma feels like and what hurt and distress does to you.

“I have seen first-hand the confusion, anxiety and pain that many of our young people experience struggling with their sexuality.”

Linda Burney speaks on the same-sex marriage bill in parliament.

She said homophobic bullying of the LGBTIQ young people occurred in schools and this had a profound effect on their wellbeing and their education and how their life continued.

“What marriage equality says to our young people, who are anxious about their sexuality is that whatever you feel, that you shouldn’t be afraid anymore,” she said.

“You are equal, we embrace you and we love you as a nation.”

Ms Burney said same-sex marriage should have been legalised “a long time ago” without the need for a public vote.

“This issue should have been resolved by this parliament,” she said.

She said the survey forced LGBTIQ loved ones to beg for their own civil rights, “a truly humiliating and shameful exercise”.

Labor MP Cathy O’Toole’s daughter Louise knew quite early on that she was gay, but did not act on her feelings until her early 20s out of fear. She struggled with depression and anxiety throughout her teens.

Next year, Louise will marry her partner Cat.

“As a mother, all I have ever wanted for all of my children is for them to be happy, to belong, and to be accepted them for who they are,” Ms O’Toole told parliament.

Queensland Liberal backbencher Andrew Wallace said he was shocked to discover his daughter was gay.

He is a committed Catholic who goes to church most Sundays and even joined a monastery as a teenager.

“About three years ago our daughter told my wife and I that she was attracted to women — that she had a girlfriend,” Mr Wallace told parliament on Tuesday, during debate on legalising same-sex marriage.

“My wife and I were shocked. Probably more me than my wife. I didn’t know what to say.” Mr Wallace believed the Catholic teaching that marriage was between a man and a woman.

“Homosexuality went against what I had been taught to believe for many years. How could this be happening? How could this be happening to me, to our family?,” he asked.

His daughter Caroline struggled with mental illness and eating disorders throughout her teenage years.

She had boyfriends growing up, but told her father “it never felt quite right” and she felt she could not tell her parents because she thought they would not approve.

“She said she had always secretly been attracted to women and I’m sure this internal conflict would have, in some part, at least exacerbated her mental state,” Mr Wallace told parliament.

Caroline is now in a much healthier and happier place.

“She has a terrific job and a wonderful partner who our family love very much.” Caroline offered her father a poignant parallel during their initial discussion that proved to be an epiphany for him.

“She said, ‘Dad, in the years to come, my generation will look back and judge your generation about how you deal with the issue of homosexuality’,” he told MPs.

“In the same way your generation considered your parents’ generation in the way they dealt with our indigenous people.”

Mr Wallace will support same-sex marriage but wants to see greater religious protections in the bill.

Nationals MP Andrew Broad, an opponent of same-sex marriage, will vote in favour of the legislation in line with his western Victorian electorate but also wants to see greater religious protections.

Originally published as Same-sex marriage bill sparks emotional speeches in parliament