From the left and the right of Labor, progressive MPs, members, unions and voters within the party are fighting back against Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s homophobic views on marriage. At the same time, huge sections of Labor’s support have shifted toward the Greens, or toward more radical, anti-capitalist alternatives.
On November 10, Paul Gibson became the 14th NSW Labor MP to announce he would not contest the March election. He said the ALP had abandoned its platform, and was simply driven by polls rather than principle.
"The worst part is that the people out there do not know what we stand for any more", he told Macquarie Radio on November 10.
Marriage equality is a sore issue for Labor. Stories of gay youth suicide have recently drawn attention to the terrifying effects of homophobic bullying. In 2005, a LaTrobe University study Writing Themselves In showed homophobic verbal abuse doubles the likelihood of self-harm in same-sex attracted youth.
Young Australians suffer this kind of bullying from Gillard. Many times she has said “marriage is between a man and a woman”. To vulnerable young people this sounds like an attack on their capacity to love and form healthy relationships. It reinforces the stereotype that same-sex attracted people die old and lonely.
Labor policy is out of step with the majority of Australians who support same-sex marriage. But the party’s base has broken ranks. The October 25 Sydney Morning Herald said Doug Cameron, a leader of the ALP’s left faction who had come out in support of same-sex marriage, asked his party to reconsider its position, and will speak at the November 27 Town Hall marriage equality rally.
On November 6, he was joined by a powerbroker of the right, Mark Abib, who called for a conscience vote, and by Queensland Labor Premier Anna Bligh.
On the other hand, Green Left Weekly#860 reported that Phil Golby, a Queensland union and ALP branch president, quit Labor to join the Socialist Alliance and build the socialist movement in Gladstone.
This sea change is coming from below. The movement for marriage equality is propelling it, forcing some MPs to take more progressive stands than that of the party they represent. It is a taste of true democracy — people power defying bureaucratic power and exposing the farce that we call representative democracy.
Pressure is mounting for a conscience vote on same-sex marriage, but there are limitations to such a move. Labor MPs were elected on the basis of their party’s platform: Labor’s homophobic policy must be changed, not obscured behind a “conscience vote”. Why should politicians get to vote on another person’s human rights?
The fact that some Labor members — including from the right — are speaking out in favour of same-sex marriage is a tribute to the strength of the campaign. But it must also be noted that Labor faces electoral wipe-out in NSW and Queensland.
GLW spoke to Alex Pittaway, a young, progressive ALP activist, whose loyalty is untarnished by the gloomy statistics. For instance, AAP reported on November 29 that Labor has 23% support and the Greens have 17% in a NSW poll. Pittaway said Labor’s record on achieving an eight-hour working day, women’s rights and universal health care showed Labor’s potential as a force for social justice.
Pittaway said the ALP had a “proud history of standing up for the marginalised and the oppressed”.
“In the end it's either the ALP or the Liberals who achieve high office”, he said. “The Greens have not and will never achieve government so the only alternative is the Liberals, where there is absolutely no chance whatsoever for progressive change.”
Considering the force of the recent "Greenslide", Lao Tzu’s famous statement sprang to mind: “There is no greater disaster than underestimating your enemy.”
Golby said: “A couple of the left members I know, who have also been very supportive, have said to me that us leaving the party means the right will win. I don’t believe it will.
“Yes, they may be winning the numbers, but I don’t believe they’re actually winning politically, because what they are doing is turning people against Labor and killing the party, which is a sad thing.”
In Labor’s decline, many wonder whether Gillard’s mysteriously invincible homophobia may be the punch line of its obituary. Only history will tell whether this is the beginning of the end for Labor, or if Labor will find a way forward.
If it does indeed survive, will that be by reconnecting with its origins as a workers’ party, or by allying itself with the oppressors?
The importance of having a Socialist Alliance is clear in this context. Rachel Evans, Socialist Alliance upper house candidate in the NSW elections and key organiser in Community Action Against Homophobia, told GLW: "Statements by various ALP politicians show how effective the grassroots struggle has been over the past six years.
“There are cracks appearing in the ruling party. But we want to bring the whole house down and won't stop till we win full marriage equality, and then struggle for real, lasting equality and justice for the queer community."