AGMC asks multicultural groups to support marriage equality

The Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council (AGMC) fully supports marriage equality but believes the process for achieving equality should not be by means of a popular vote.

AGMC President, Dr Judy Tang, expressed her concerns for miscommunication and incorrect information that could be sent to people and groups from a multicultural and/or multifaith background.

“For people who access local news in their own language or within the communities, there is a risk for them to be exposed to hateful and wrong information about what marriage equality means”.

“We need to ensure that newspapers and radio stations for multicultural groups do not subject their community to fear-mongering, homophobia or transphobia”, she said.

“We have seen our fair share of people who identify as multicultural or multifaith and LGBTI, who have been shut out by their communities and families – and it is these people that we are concerned for – they are at risk of discrimination and hate from all fronts – cultural, faith, gender and sexuality”.

AGMC agrees that marriage equality is a human rights and equal opportunity issue and therefore should be a matter for Australian law and our parliamentary system – not a popular vote. Should the postal vote proceed, Dr Tang urges friends and allies to vote “yes”.