Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays have joined forces with an up-and-coming LGBTIQ advocacy group called just.equal to create a survey gauging LGBTIQ support for a plebiscite on marriage equality in the wake of the Federal Election.
PFLAG and just.equal hope to spread the survey across social media to collect as many responses as possible from LGBTIQ Australians to give the best possible picture of the community’s stance on how to move forward.
Dr Sharon Dane, who advised the design of the survey, says the survey will provide credible results surveying a wide cross-section of the LGBTIQ community.
“The results will be reliable enough to be used to inform politicians about what the LGBTIQ community really wants,” Dr Dane said.
PFLAG spokesperson Shelley Argent says politicians are ignoring the opinion of the queer community.
“Some politicians are saying it should be a plebiscite or nothing and it’s time the LGBTIQ community had a voice to respond to such ultimatums,” Argent said.
Marriage equality advocates, such as Rodney Croome of Australian Marriage Equality, have been arguing against a plebiscite since it was proposed, warning a national vote would invite hateful language and public displays of homophobia and transphobia.
just.equal spokesperson and former Australian Marriage Equality deputy director Ivan Hinton-Teoh says politicians need to be more aware of the community’s needs.
“Australian decision-makers have a duty to listen carefully to the LGBTIQ community when making decisions that affect us,” Hinton-Teoh said.
If you would like to participate in the survey, you can find it online here.
OIP Staff
