Oasis Magazine - Cairns & Tropical North Queensland Issue 15 - Dec|Jan 2017 | Page 22

Spilling THE CAST JESSE COOK ORIENTATION: HOMOSEXUAL. SINGLE. OCCUPATION: THEATRE PRODUCER AND PERFORMANCE ARTIST DANIEL MCCARTHY ORIENTATION: STRAIGHT. MARRIED. OCCUPATION: MARINE PROFESSIONAL/ BOAT CAPTAIN If nothing else, 2016 has revealed that the world is changing. Gay marriage has been at the forefront of Australia news for more than a decade. While our western counterparts, including UK, USA, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand have passed legislation relating to marriage equality, Australia remains firm on its stance. I recently spoke to three local men, with very varied viewpoints on this matter, to gauge their views. What are your views on Gay Marriage - Do you support or oppose the concept? JESSE: Yes, however I like to refer to it as equal marriage, as we are not fighting for gay rights. Simply for equal rights. Equality is the rationale behind my fight for fixing the 22 | w w w. o a s i s m a g a z i n e . c o m . a u marriage legislation in Australia. DANIEL: I support Traditional marriage. I have no issue with a civil union for same sex couples. Traditional marriage, while not perfect, has been the corner stone for our society and I feel it needs to be preserved BOB MULLEY ORIENTATION: STRAIGHT. MARRIED. OCCUPATION: RETIRED INSURANCE AGENT AND RUBGY LEAGUE TRAGIC as is. I have gay friends who agree. Gay relationships are different to marriage and that’s ok, hence I do not support changing the meaning of the word. BOB: I don’t give a toss one way or the other. If they want to get married, let them. It doesn’t affect the world in any way. Why shouldn’t we support it? We support heterosexual marriage. I don’t interfere with them, and they don’t interfere with me, and life goes on. What are your thoughts on the Plebiscite? JESSE: From the start it was an absolute horrendous idea with no legal need to hold it. Plebiscites are used to gain national consensus on issues of constitutional or national identity altering proportions. Equality should never be that, and it is not, that nation altering. Time and time again private polls have been held on the issue and there is overwhelming support out