A few months ago, Australia said yes to marriage equality – and it was about damn time. Every year, Mardi Gras is an amazing display of gay pride, equality, inclusiveness, and just love in general, but somehow, the LGBTQ community could not say ‘I do’ in this country. Unfortunately, for me the day went by without having people to celebrate with. I was still at the cattle station when the law was voted, and deliberately chose not to publish this post while I was still living there. I hope you can agree with me that it’s not a case of hypocrisy or me being afraid to stand up for what I believe in, it was mere self-preservation. You don’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, alone, having to work for people who read about how you think their beliefs are intolerant, ignorant, and downright massively fucked up. Needless to say, no one made rainbow sprinkled cupcakes or colourful cocktails. No one put glitter on their faces or waved a rainbow flag – no, people discussed whether it should still be called ‘marriage’ as two people of the same sex “can’t have that spiritual connection to God, which is what marriage is.” Surely, yes, they can get married, was the general consensus, but just don’t call it that – it’s a religious thing, “we’re Catholics, we don’t believe in it.”

“We don’t believe in it” – I can’t believe it. Being gay is not something you can “believe in”, it’s not a fucking supernatural occurrence. Unlike any god, the existence of loving someone of the same sex is undoubtedly real. This is not me criticising any religion, nor me denying there is a god, I just can’t deal with the fact there’s still people out there that think they have the right to decide for someone else what they can and cannot do in life. “It affects the idea of marriage”, I was told. How? Do you feel like your marriage is suddenly worth less than it was before? These people are perceiving marriage as some sort of economic concept; gay people entering the marriage market is making prices plummet, nothing is worth anything anymore, the whole thing is going to collapse, run while you can.

I was asked if I would have voted yes, provided I was an Australian citizen. Of course, I said, why not? The next question was for me to list the pros and cons of gay marriage. Baffled, I said, “what cons could there possibly be?” Once more, I was given a whole lecture on the sanctity of marriage. The hypocrisy is killing me. What are the stats today, around 50% of marriages end in divorce, give or take a few percent? How sacred is that? Lying, cheating, even simply falling out of love or falling in love with someone else, it all happens. How do you think God feels about that? Better, because you happen to be part of a heterosexual couple? How many people are trapped in a loveless marriage, staying together just for the kids’ sake? How many people today are still married, even if the love has gone, just because they are afraid to get a divorce? God will welcome you into Paradise if you just stick it out, pinky promise, right?

I’m sure, if there’s a God, He/She has it all planned out – and here’s a little spoiler alert: it’s not gay people that go to hell. It’s short-sighted, judgemental assholes. Sure, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but basic human rights is not something you can have an opinion on, or simply “can’t believe in.” Love is love, dickwads. Shut up.