We Are Family

Today is a day where the blogging community can come together in order to raise awareness of LGBT families. Today is also a day when the blogging community can recognise how diverse families are and to recognise the needs of families that may be pretty different from our own.

I don't have a typical family by an stretch of the imagintion. My parents are divorced and both are remarried. When they got remarried in addition to my 3 biological siblings I acquired 4 step brothers and 2 step sisters. I also got a step grandmother, a step grandfather, 5 step cousins, 2 sets of step aunts and uncles and 2 step dogs.

Whilst we have Mother's Day, Father's Day and Christmas we don't have a day that honours non-traditional families. There's no step-fathers day, there aren't any guides as to what to call your step-grandfather, there aren't any "Congratulations on your engagement, even though you've done this before" cards.

I'm bisexual and so it stands to reason that there is a 50-50 chance that any family I create will be "non-traditional". Chances are I could end up in a hetrosexual relationship and have kids the "regular" way but its also just as likely that I'll end up in a homosexual relationship and create my family through more non-traditional means. I could adopt, undergo artifical insemination, foster. What if I want to get married to my partner, what if I want to leave her all my money, what if I'm in a car accident and need someone to make medical and financial decisions for me?

This is the kind of thing that I think about and what really scares me is the fact that I could end up in a situation where, because I'm choosing to express who I really I am, I could end up with very few rights. If you read this and you know me then you should be passionate about this issue because it is something that affects people you know and love.

John Howard's Marriage Amendment Legislation Bill which passed and became law in 2004 defines marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others. This means that anyone who is in a long-term relationship that isn't between one man and one woman loses out on everything that hetrosexual couples are entitled to.

This stuff matters, think about how it could affect people you know and do something. Why does a bunch of white middle aged men get to decide whats best for my relationship?

Below is a list of links from both Australia and overseas that are compulsory reading!

Mapping our rights

American Human Rights

Blogging for LGBT Families

*Kitty, this is one of the many reasons I don't like John Howard. We'll talk. . .