So, last time the civil unions campaign was all Fluffy Bunnies, Rainbows, and Hugs all round! (Even from the media!)

This time… things are getting… nasty. The Federal Government is being a bunch of homophobic bastards, and our local state government is looking for a way to back down without losing the queer vote come the October elections.
Good Process, formerly *the* Queer Lobby Group seems to be oscillating between offering us good advice, and sending out carefully push polled surveys.

I am ANGRY. Very very ANGRY.

My personal opinion is that marriage is a patriarchal and capitalist institution designed to part people from their money, and subjugate women. I think that is ALL THE MORE REASON for queers to be able to get married. First of all, some want to, and second of all, it fucks with the paradigm.

The rhetoric surrounding the whole thing is just fucked up. The government doesn’t want same-sex couples ‘mimicking heterosexual marriage’, for the all the world like they are talking about children, or monkeys, playing a game they don’t understand.
They want us to content ourselves with a relationship registry… so our intimate lovers can have the same legal rights as the carer of a non-related dependent. The ‘Dog Registration Scheme’ its been called.

Really, WHAT THE FUCK?

So anyway, Becca at Burning Words has a couple of good posts up about the Civil Unions.
In particular, check out her guide to ways to help the ACT Civil Unions Campaign.
She also has a more coherent rant about Good Process, which is worth a read.

Its not all angst, and hostility though. The Australian version of LOTL interviewed Becca for their ‘Lesbians on the Loose’ feature, regarding this Civil Unions thing. We were really excited about that.