Reassuring Fr Frank Brennan about same sex marriage

Conclusion

It is perfectly proper for the Marriage Act to continue to allow, as it already does, ministers of religion to decline to celebrate a marriage that does not conform to the minister's religious teachings (whether that is because of the religious faith of the spouses to be, the fact that one of them may be divorced, because they are of the same sex or for some other reason). Some ministers of religion, of course, would be more than happy to celebrate a same sex marriage. Those ministers of religion should not be denied the ability to do so because of the religious beliefs of others.

Same sex marriage is an issue where we need to keep the idea of the separation of church and state firmly in mind. No one should be denied the ability to marry the person they love simply because of the religious beliefs of others. And if you are not an LGBTI person, your rights and obligations under the law will be exactly the same as they are today if Australia recognises same sex marriage.

Luke Beck is a constitutional law academic at Western Sydney University