It has been 11 years since the Howard government amended the Marriage Act to restrict marriage rights to heterosexual couples.

Ali Hogg was a student union office bearer in 2004 and helped build an emergency rally on the day the amendment was passed. Since that time she has risen to prominence nationally as a leader of Equal Love and a campaigner for equal rights. She spoke to Red Flag about the campaign.

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Why has taken so long to make progress on this issue?

I think, through the ongoing campaign, we have made marriage equality an issue that politicians can’t ignore. In 2004, every single politician from both the Liberal and Labor parties voted to amend the Marriage Act. It was appalling. Since then, we’ve seen the ALP change its policy and we’ve even seen a number of Liberal Party politicians come out in support.

Nevertheless, over the last 11 years both the ALP and the Liberal Party have stymied us. I think this is largely to appease the powerful right wing inside their own parties and to pander to their conservative supporters. But I think that is getting harder and harder because of the constant pressure from the campaign as well as international developments.

Public support for marriage equality has increased dramatically over the last 11 years. Internationally, country after country has changed laws, which has disproved all the scaremongering from the right about people marrying their dogs or trees or what have you, should marriage equality succeed.

While this doesn’t mean that victory is inevitable, it does show that we’ve been correct to have a serious, public campaign. 

 How do you feel about the outcome of the ALP conference?

Don’t get me started! The outcome of the ALP national conference was a slap in the face. The ALP has conceded that a binding vote is the right thing to do, but they are making us wait until 2019. With friends like this, who needs enemies? We want the ALP to get serious about LGBTI rights now, not in four years. 

What has been the highlight of the campaign for you?

The rally outside the 2011 ALP national conference in Sydney. More than 15,000 people come from across Australia to demand equality. When you are surrounded by such large numbers, you get a real sense of the power mass movements have.

Another highlight was an impromptu rally I was part of outside a Carlton restaurant where Tony Abbott was having dinner with Greg Sheridan from the Australian. I received a tip off from an Equal Love supporter that they were there and so a few of us held a small and lively protest.

It was shortly after Abbott made his comments about feeling “threatened” by gay people. He certainly felt threatened that night.

Why is marriage equality important to you?

Marriage has never been of interest to me personally – but I see it as an issue of equality. It’s not right that we have laws and rights for one section of society and not for another. I think this has broader implications as well: state-sanctioned discrimination exacerbates the self-doubt many young LGBTI people feel, and sends a green light that it’s okay to discriminate or act in a homophobic manner, because the government does too.

Some people argue that the marriage issue is distracting attention from other LGBTI issues. How do you respond to this?

This is something that we hear a lot. I agree there’s a lot to be fighting for, but those fights are not counterposed to that for equality. In fact, they can complement and reinforce each other. The prominence of the marriage equality campaign has the potential to help draw public attention to a range of other LGBTI issues by providing a platform and more high profile public discussion.

The other point is that, if we can have a victory on marriage equality, it can encourage others. Organising rally after rally isn’t always easy, but if we’ve learnt anything from history, it’s that if you don’t fight you lose. A win for marriage equality, I believe, would inspire others to fight for their rights and show that it is possible to succeed.

Can you outline the next steps for the campaign?

We are planning a round of national rallies in August to demand parliament consider and vote “yes” to the private member’s bill for marriage equality. Rallies are happening in Brisbane on Saturday 8 August, Sydney and Perth on Sunday 9 August, and Melbourne on Saturday 15 August.