OUR front page article on Friday certainly stirred up a passionate debate – even before we went to print.
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The issue of same-sex marriage is very much in the national consciousness with the matter currently being debated at a federal government level.
To get a local flavour, we asked all of the churches in Bega for their stance on same-sex marriage – every one of them said they would not conduct a service even if marriage equality legislation passed parliament.
Of course, that is their right under Australia’s separation of church and state, but the stance and our story triggered plenty of debate on social media – both for and against.
The voice behind the Bega Valley For Marriage Equality, Iain Dawson, wrote in taking issue with our headline and front page coverage after we posted it to Instagram.
Read the letter below and have your say on this and many other topics via our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BegaNews) or emailing the editor on ben.smyth@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
RELATED COVERAGE
I WRITE in reference to the cover story you promoted through your Instagram account.
While I look forward to reading the article tomorrow, I felt I needed to put pen to paper and express my disappointment at running a clearly divisive and potentially damaging headline.
I wonder how I would have felt as a conflicted, confused and isolated teenager, growing up in the Bega Valley and had seen such a headline?
I understand you have given a cover story which featured the alternate side of the debate and as an unbiased and balanced publication you need to explore the issue from both sides.
However, I must question your decision to run a sensational and upsetting headline, reinforcing a negative and hetero normative stereotype.
Might I point out that, as a secular country, marriage is not controlled by the church and it is the government, not the church that will decide ultimately, to legalise equal marriage rights to every citizen of Australia.
Consequently, while the local churches opinions are important to their own congregations, they hold little to no importance to those who are not their members.
I end with a quote from a recent letter to our local federal member Dr Peter Hendy that was shared through the Facebook page I initiated recently, Bega Valley For Marriage Equality, from Michael Barnett.
Michael writes:
"You cannot tell people they are valued and equal members of society when you promote one section of society above another.
“When you tell some people their relationships are not equal in merit to those of other people, do not be surprised when you read about the tragic death of yet another young man or woman in a community, the person everyone loved and whose death was totally unexpected.
“You should not be surprised when a community is fractured into a million pieces when these deaths occur, because Dr Hendy, you are able to help prevent this, if you really want to."
I strongly encourage you to read the letter in its entirety here - http://mikeybear.com.au/2015/07/20/a-letter-to-dr-peter-hendy-mp-for-eden-monaro/
I look forward to reading your article tomorrow.
Iain Dawson
Pambula