Image: Lyle Shelton. (Picture: David Alexander; Star Observer)
ON Saturday morning as the rest of Australia was preparing to enjoy the long weekend, I was dragging myself out of bed to head into Sydney’s CBD to check out the Australian Christian Lobby’s (ACL) conference.
It might seem bewildering that Australia’s oldest LGBTI media outlet would want to cover the conference of a lobby who do not support marriage equality, safe schools and think LGBTI people are trying to take over the country with the ‘gay agenda’. But the purpose of attending was to hear what they have to say and try to understand their point of view a bit better.
After all, despite being obviously supportive of the above issues (except for taking over Australia – I’m not sure we have enough glitter), we are still bound by the journalist code of ethics to “report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy, fairness and disclosure of all essential facts”.
So I turned up to the Pitt St venue, without confirmation I had been added to the media list, despite a promise from the ACL’s media contact I would be. Multiple calls and emails in the lead up to the event were not returned and I made the assumption they were trying to stonewall me (see what I did there) to avoid me turning up. I was kind of hoping this was the case, that I would get there on a cold, rainy Saturday morning, I would be rejected from entering and I could go on to spend my day off doing fun things. Then my story would be easy to write: ‘ACL doesn’t want pink media at its conference’.
Alas, I had been emailed late on Friday night to say I could come along, I just hadn’t checked my emails and I was welcomed into the venue with warm smiles. I settled into my seat for what was sure to be an interesting eight hours.
A number of speakers addressed different topics such as surrogacy, Christians and Indigenous recognition, Jesus’ mission, a history of church and state, the sexualisation of women and a keynote address from Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison who thanked everyone for their prayers and mainly talked about new economic policy rather than declaring solidarity with the values of the ACL.
On a side note, Morrison spent much of his time laying Australia’s economic woes at the feet of single parents and to read exactly what I think of that, check out my tweets – I may have used a Nicki Minaj GIF to express myself. He also spoke about the rising divorce rates, in what I thought as an attempt to discourage gays and lesbians from wanting to get married at all.
What unfolded in the various presentations really surprised me and I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Predictably, many speakers spoke about how marriage should be between a man and woman, Telstra should not get involved in politics, safe schools is sexualising children etc.
While a lot of these assertions would not be something I would agree with, they were presented in a reasonable (albeit sometimes out of context) fashion. There was no fire and brimstone hysterics, that we’ve come to know and expect from the ACL.
Except for Queensland ACL state director Wendy Francis, who declared “it’s urgent everybody, the world is crumbling around us” and Jeffrey Ventrella telling the crowd “we’re on the winning side”, the tone of the conference was restrained and so bloody polite.
This understated rhetoric is what worries me. There is an upcoming plebiscite to decide if the Marriage Act will be amended to recognise same-sex couples and despite polls showing the majority of Australians think marriage equality is inevitable, there are whispers around the halls of Canberra that it isn’t a shoo-in (this is according to some of my sources who have asked to remain anonymous.
As one of the most outspoken and highly visible proponents of the ‘No’ camp, the ACL perhaps also know this and therefore are toning down their style to help convince voters who might be on the fence, leaning towards voting no.
Not everyone in the LGBTI community cares about marriage equality and that’s ok. And it’s ok for the ACL to not support it. But I left feeling that the ACL conference was not only about their right to express their views, but that there is a rising tide against LGBTI issues.
I worry that arguing marriage should stay between a man and woman is an excuse to then call out other queer and rainbow issues the ACL does not agree with. I worry that whatever progress Australia has made towards being more understanding is being unravelled and we are going backwards. I worry that young people won’t feel loved just because some people don’t support a program that is designed to protect them.
So, whether you believe marriage equality is important or not, it might be time to become more active in supporting the rainbow community by reaching out to your networks to explain why being gay et al is ok. Just as the ACL can be moderate in its message, so can we. It’s time to speak up more loudly and spread the queer word.
MM are you being serious with this article ?
The ACL hate LGBTIQ
End of story
Bill Shorten has said repeatedly that an incoming Labor government will legislate for marriage equality within 100 days of coming to power.
So the safest way to avoid the marriage equality plebiscite is to vote for the ALP or the Greens, and ensure your preferences go to pro-marriage equality candidates.
I doubt a plebiscite will ever happen. If the Coalition were serious about it, we’d be given the voting slip along with our ballot papers on July 2. If they win, there will be more delaying tactics, e.g., indigenous recognition is more important, how do we fund the yes and no case and by how much, what’s’ the question… oh, sorry, time for another election. Even if Labor wins it won’t go through first time. I think we’re at least five years away from equality at this moment, and the ACL knows it. They can smugly sit back and smile for five years while we wear ourselves out, angry and shouting, and alienating much of our support in the process, and maybe, in the end, losing the vote, either in public or in parliament. Hence the nicely-nicely have-a-craic-with-your-granny AME strategy. Whether, given recent events in Melbourne, Equal Love can hold it in and not succumb to capture by extremists, I doubt. We are in for a bumpy and frustrating few years.
Thank you Shannon
“The scariest part of the Australian Christian Lobby conference was how much they’ve toned down their style to win over fence-sitters.” I’ve never been to an ACL conference but have received their newsletters for years. I’d like to know how you believe they’ve toned down their message. The newsletters I’ve received have always covered numerous topics covering politics, marriage, prayer, poverty and yes the changing culture of sexualisation becoming normal through (and not restricted to) advertising campaigns, school programs and celebrities.
Yes Shannon
I think you were pleasantly surprised because you were seeing the Christian side of the issue through the eyes of the media. Nothing has changed from our side! It is very difficult to get the truth out there in this one horse race. Christians are not the haters and abusers, they are the ones ho have real answers for the broken and confused and know how to love them to wholeness! Unfortunately uneducated people think disagreeing for very good reasons with a socially constructed idea is hate and bigotry. It is not the Christian kids in schools that are bullying other kids. I could give you story after story to support this. It is not hat we are against helping people with gender issues. It is the way these programs are attempting to fix the problems! They are not helpful! Lots of articles to support this as well. Thank you.
”they are the ones who have real answers for the broken and confused ”
lol….of course you mean that in a kind way??
“hate the sin, love the sinner”
Im afraid the tokenism of “respectful debate” and “civilized dialogue” doesnt cut thru the bullshit of wot ur talking about.
There is no such thing as “hate speech lite”
You know full well you would never get away with talking about the lives of “the broken and confused and know how to love them to wholeness ” black people or jewish people in this patronizing, mawkish, syrupy, saccharin way that doesnt even come close to revealing the end game of denying gay pl. their rights in a secular society. Take ur tax exempt, not-for-profit christian bigotry and please preach it in ur tax exempt churches where u are free to worship, NOT in the public sphere where we ALL have to get along. I dont belong to ur church and u should keep ur poison IN ur church and stop interfering with law abiding tax paying citizens rights to get married. NO GAY PERSON IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD WANT TO GET MARRIED WITH THE WELCOME MAT YOU PPL. OFFER AND HAVE OFFERED TO GAY PPL. OVER THE CENTURIES!!
It’s interesting how the lens with which we view the world, colours our view of what we see. I am aware that I have my own len through which I view the world. I was at the same conference as Shannon. So while Shannon heard this, “On a side note, Morrison spent much of his time laying Australia’s economic woes at the feet of single parents…”. I heard how life is more difficult for single parent families, regardless of how they entered that situation. What I took from what Scott Morrison said, was that one of the ways to help this group is to provide access to employment.
I don’t know if you read the comments Shannon but could you expand on this statement “… but that there is a rising tide against LGBTI issues.” What was said that made you think there was a rising tide against LGBTI issues?
Are you able to expand on why you think/feel/worry that ACL opposing the redefinition of marriage will lead to opposition to other rainbow issues? Without getting into the discussion about impact or consequences of making this change and just talking from a gut feel perspective. It feels to me that wanting to redefine marriage will have an impact on me. As by definition, it redefines my marriage. Whereas other issues that the rainbow community have had to deal with in the past like access to superannuation of partners etc were very much issues between those directly involved, it had little impact outside that relationship. I believe that ACL supported these types of changes.
While we saw the day differently, appreciate your measured report.
How does marriage equality redefine your marriage if you’re not in a same-sex relationship?
This is an amazing article. It is so encouraging to see how you treat the ACL with respect and kindness, even though you disagree. We need more healthy conversation, critique and conversation like this!
“healthy conversation, critique and conversation like this!”
please dont be taken in by “poor lil persecuted christian” The ACL has toned down its language when in the past it has compared the “gay lifestyle” as more hazardous then smoking or another pearl from Ex CEO Jim Wallace a few years ago on ANZAC day tweeted that
@JimWallaceACL
“Just hope that as we remember Servicemen and women today we remember the Australia they fought for – wasn’t gay marriage and Islamic!”
This is classic ACL in all its xenophobia and homophobia.
please dont think the wolf is now a lamb.
the homophobia has just become more polite because the horrific bigotry is turning people off…the INTENT to curtail gay rights is still VERY MUCH operant…but in a “kinder,” “nicer””way and if you look at the ACL website most of the projects concern gay ppl.
The problem with the Plebiscite is the same as the problem with the Republican debate. Conservative Liberals will get to write the question, and no doubt find a way to make it offensive enough that people who would otherwise support it will vote NO!. (In the case of the Republic, it was by rolling 2 questions into one – Do you want a Republic? (Yes); Do you want the President to be appointed by Parliament (Hell No!) – and so we voted NO!. For example, rather than a simple “Do you support changing the definition of Marriage From ‘Between a Man and a Woman’ to ‘Between two people’ (Hell Yes); it could easily get wrapped with a question about the right to “freedom of religious expression” exempting organisations and people whose religious belief does not support SSM from providing recognition or services (Hell No!) – there are plenty of ways to word it so that the majority will vote No!
Dear Shannon,
Thank you for this fair and thoughtful report on the ACL Conference. I hope that your article will do a lot to raise the level of debate in Australia on these very significant issues.
Keep up the good work.
Steve Chavura
This is concerning. The ACL will do anything to stop lgbt rights. One thing I’m confused about though is the projected outcome of the plebescite if it’s held. Polls have been overwhelmingly in favour, and have been since 2007. Nothing is ever a given but the trend is overwhelmingly clear that the majority are in favour and have been for a very long time.