A few weekends ago, I met the most beautiful couple at a BBQ. They were funny, friendly and intelligent. They had that kind of ‘cool’ about them that makes you think, ‘Oh, I want them to like me! I want to be their friends!’ They also passed the ‘Maddie and Piper’ test. It’s an informal test that my husband and I devised – we usually use it for tradies or contractors – you know, if someone comes into our home to fix the dishwasher, or do a pest spray, or quote on new carpet, we use it to determine if they are good people*. To pass the ‘Maddie and Piper’ test, you just have to be nice to our kids – simple really. You get a bonus if you tell us how cute they are – obviously.
(*Please note, I’m kidding about the ‘Maddie and Piper’ test, we’re not really that judgemental. If you’re not a kid person, we’ll still like you – although you do at least like puppies, right?)
This couple were also the kind of people who are very good at asking you lots of questions about yourself, so that on the way home you suddenly realise they know everything there is to know about you – but you know nothing about them – and you become mortified to realise that this is because you were so busy answering all of their interesting and insightful questions that you didn’t ask them anything about themselves. Bad socialising Nikki, Bad socialising!
I’m not entirely sure how long this couple have been together, and I don’t know if marriage is on their mind at this stage – but here’s something that struck me as I was chatting with them: They can’t get married. Why? Because they’re gay. They are two gorgeous, warm and (from my perspective anyway) very-much-adoring-of-one-another men. And here in the twenty-first century – for some strange and ridiculous reason that means that they can’t legally marry one another.
This got me thinking, of course I’m already a supporter of marriage equality – but up until now, have I really cared enough about this cause? I’ve signed petitions, I’ve voiced my opinion – but have I really been fighting for everyone to have this right? On the way home from the BBQ – I began to become angry. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to marry each other if they wanted to? Why is this country that has come so far in so many other respects – still so far behind on this monumental injustice? And then I became angry at myself. Why did it take so long for me to realise just how important this is? Did I really need to wait until I had assigned a human face to the issue to realise its importance? If it was one of my family members or a close friend who’s rights were being restricted, I would be campaigning like crazy to change the world – so why shouldn’t I do the same for a stranger?
It’s time to start pushing for change: