‘Remember children in Aus same-sex marriage debate’

A child’s right to a mother and a father must be at the centre of the debate about redefining marriage, an Australian Christian leader has said.

Lyle Shelton, Managing Director of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), made the comments as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull suggested a national vote on the issue may take place early next year.

Shelton said altering the law on marriage would change “legal and cultural assumptions about mothering and fathering”.

Protecting children

Writing on the ACL website he said that while some marriages do not lead to children, “every child has a mother and a father”.

The reason, Shelton continued, that the Government has laws around marriage “is because governments are rightly interested in protecting the rights of children”.

“Same-sex marriage makes it impossible to assert that children, wherever possible, should be allowed to be loved and nurtured by their biological mother and father”, he added.

Mum and Dad

Shelton said that a vote next year gives time to promote the view that “there is much more to same-sex marriage than we are told”.

“This debate is all about children and their right to their mother and father. It is only just beginning”, he concluded.