DESPITE being ineligible to vote in the postal ballot, some of Millicent’s youngest residents are urging participants to vote yes to same sex marriage in the national voluntary survey.
Secondary students Hope Devlin, Jasmine Stringer, Mason O’Rielly and Brandon Jones are among a bloc of youths supporting a change to the Marriage Act to allow same sex attracted couples to marry.
“Gay and lesbian couples have every right to be recognised by the law the same way heterosexual
couples are,” Hope said.
“This vote is about people’s happiness and to make sure everyone is equally happy.”
As the non-binding vote begins to rollout across the nation, the group said it was time Australia moved towards marriage equality.
“It shouldn’t matter what your sexuality is, everyone should have the same rights as everyone else,” Hope said.
“It should have happened already and it’s just a matter of time until it’s legal anyway.”
The group were unanimous in their dismissal of marriage as an exclusive religious sacrament, adding same-sex marriage would not undermine heterosexual marriage.
“Religion isn’t as big as what it used to be 70 years ago,” Jasmine said.
“Where people used to go to church and believe in God, now they have their own ideas of spirituality and you don’t have to be a Christian to believe in God.
“If you’re not gay, legalising same sex marriage doesn’t affect you and is not really your problem.
Additionally, the group believed marriage equality would assist in alleviating sexual orientation stigma and discrimination within the wider community.
“I think it would help to teach people that homosexuality is okay,” Jasmine said.
“A lot of homophobia comes from what people don’t understand.”
“I think homosexuality has been repressed in society for such a long time and people need to start acknowledging it’s real.”
Brandon believed marriage equality was largely a generational issue, with younger generations generally supportive of the issue.
“I think younger people aren’t bothered with same-sex marriage the same way older people are,” he said.
“We’ve had a much wider connection to the world through the internet.
“More people are allowed to express their sexuality, religion has decreased and most people see the positive consequences.”
The group said one of the most important benefits of legalising same sex marriage would extend to increased mental health and legal equity within the LGBT community.
“There would be a lot of people out there who are probably homosexual but are way too afraid of what people think of them,” Mason said.
“A lot of older people say gay people didn’t exist in their day which isn’t true.
“I think things have changed a lot of people are more attracted to personalities than they are genders.
“Hopefully this will help people who are too afraid to accept their homosexuality to accept who they are.”
