Gay rights - a Liberal issue

A glance at the traditional party beliefs, reveals the soul of the party. The original statement of principles has 17 points. I paraphrase those directly affecting the LGBTI community:

• 3. We believe in individual initiative, individuality and acceptance of responsibility.
• 6. We believe Rights connote Duties. Sectional and selfish policies are destructive of good citizenship.
• 7. We believe the supreme function of government is to assist in the development of personality; that today’s dogma may turn out to be tomorrow’s error. In consequence, the interests of all legitimate minorities must be protected.
• 8. We believe social liberty based upon and limited by a conception of social justice.
• 10. We believe liberalism means flexibility and progress. Its principles and spiritual and intellectual approach enable it to deal with changing social circumstances. By elevating the individual it meets and defeats the all-powerful State.
• 12. We believe national financial and economic power and policy should not be designed to control men’s lives, but to create a climate in which men may work out their own salvation in their own way.
• 13. We believe in freedom to worship, think, speak, choose; to be ambitious, acquire skill, seek and earn reward.
• 14. We believe in social justice: in encouraging the strong and protecting the weak.
• 15. We believe in religious and racial tolerance.
• 17. We believe that under divine providence, with goodwill, mutual tolerance and understanding, energy and individual purpose, there is neither task which Australia cannot perform nor difficulty overcome.

This is the traditional version of the original foundational principles of the Liberal Party. True conservativism is a way of life based on structure, foundation and hard won and defended precepts. Nothing wrong here. However, if we look at these words, and making allowances for an era when non gender-specifics terms were uncommon, we see into the soul of an institution which should stand firm forever, much like the precepts that created it.

In these very words lie the principles which should determine the plans for any government. The document reflects the necessity of both tolerance and understanding, while opposing those who seek to impose their dogma on all. That all minorities, be they Aborigines, gays, Jews, or any other, and their legitimate interests, must be protected, as must their legitimate interests, against sectional and selfish policies imposed by others. Consider the Lyons Forum denouncing gays, or its condemnation of those seeking abortion, divorce or euthanasia. Principle 12 asserts we should be able to work out our own salvation, without one doctrine imposing its view. Christian, Moslem and Jew should realise they have one thing in common: before their creator, they are all equal, with flaws, desires and different individual problems that can be solved only by the individual and his creator. Irrespective of religion or church, that creator is not concerned with the dogma of mortals or church practices and preachings.

These precepts underpin a large body of history and tradition under the banner of (mainly) British Conservatism. High Tories use existing orders, structures and foundations to improve and build for the future.

Our system of government is based upon the timeless certainties of wisdom, compassion, mercy and strength, and the eternal verities of hope, faith and charity. When people live in charity with one another, mutual respect, tolerance, love and mercy are standard. This is the spirit of the Australian Liberal, immortalised in the culture of a country which advocates a fair go. Where people's opinions are respected, and the right to express them protected and defended. Where any citizen can rise to the greatest office of the land. These precepts were espoused by traditional Liberals. They should be encouraged to prevail once more, and to be a lesson in ethics and values for the churches and other groups.

Every member of society has equal rights before the law. Many of these, termed inalienable rights, are enshrined in our constitution. Although some rights are not specifically stated or codified, this doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Rights can be described as common decencies afforded all men and women, regardless of faith, ethnicity, race or sexual preference.

As individuals, we have rights, and understand others have them. We do not make up rights on a whim, or we would run the risk of having rights which contradict others. Thinking oneself different does not confer additional rights. Rights are inherited and also inalienable. They are part of us like genes, and cannot be taken away or lost. The question on gay rights, is whether any group has any more rights than another, or want more than is given innately.

Merely codifying a convenient document will not hold up under legal examination. The law which protects our rights is a living thing. The gay community should look at the law and constitution for assistance because it embodies all that is good and worthy. Rights, like truths, have always been there, and are not easily denied in a free and democratic society.

The reasons Liberal voters should support gay issues are found in the overall founding principles of tolerance, compassion and social justice. Social justice is a term more associated with the left than the traditional Liberal right wing. This leads to questions about the perception of political ownership of the gay community.

Labor would have us believe we have a common struggle, assuming us underprivileged, down-trodden and more at home with ALP views of social justice than a purely legal one.

When the AIDS crisis descended, Labor was in power in most states, and federally. The governments (as opposed to party machines) had to respond to a health crisis. To their credit, governments formed partnerships of sorts with the gay community to deal with the problem. This did not imply ownership of the gay community. ALP ideologues and activists sought to capitalise on it, until 2004, when the ALP voted with the Liberals on gay marriage.