Two of our contributors 'Speak Now'

In response to the rally against same-sex marriage staged in Canberra, two contributors to Speak Now were quoted in news reporting of the event.

Rodney Croome, speaking on behalf of the group Australian Marriage Equality, asserted that the offensive rhetoric used by protestors had no place in any debate on same-sex marriage, saying: "The Australian Christian Lobby, which often complains about opponents of same-sex marriage being ridiculed and demonised, must show it is sincere about a mature debate by distancing itself from the offensive comments made today."

Paul Martin, a Queensland psychologist who specialises in the mental health of gay and lesbian people, also found the comments damaging: "Prejudice and ridicule damage the mental health of young same-sex attracted people and the last thing they need to hear are these kind of offensive comments from people who purport to represent 'family values'."

Their comments were taken from an AAP story reported in the Sydney Morning Herald 16 Aug 2011.

Paul Martin writes about the toxic effects of shaming in his chapter in Speak Now, which is titled: "Gathering the Pieces." 

In his piece "A History of Freedom to Marry in Australia", Rodney Croome links the current struggle to earlier historical government controls over who could marry whom, arguing that infringement of the freedom to marry is part of a broader ideological project in which marriage is manipulated to discriminatory, ideological ends.