Candace Cameron Bure blames media for blowback over ‘traditional marriage’ remark
Updated
For the last few years, the Australian government has been embroiled in a debate about how to treat same-sex relationships.
The campaign against same-sex marriage started with a campaign in favour of allowing gay couples to marry in 2009, which then became a debate over same-sex marriage in 2013 after the High Court ruled that same-sex couples could marry under federal law.
But now marriage equality is becoming a political football as activists and politicians seek to use the topic of same-sex marriage to gain support for a range of new laws — and to distract from other issues of concern.
Australian Marriage Equality (AME), which led the campaign for same-sex marriage in 2009, says its membership has grown beyond 15 million Australians.
Its spokesman, Candace Cameron Bure, said the group was disappointed with the debate which was “distracting from other issues [it] wants to address”.
“We think the media and politicians need to deal with issues like the economy, and [the] high cost of living — all the other issues that they seem to be more interested in focusing on,” she said.
What does it mean to be gay or lesbian in Australia?
Gay marriage advocate, Candace Bure, says the question that matters most is whether you could live “normal” lives.
“At the moment, life is normal for us,” she said.
“There’s things like people who are working two jobs, people with kids, trying to keep up with school and university, all of these things that we have to deal with.
“It’s not a negative thing. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just life. There are things that we don’t have control over — such as where we live, our friends, our parents, our sexuality.”
Ms Cameron Bure says she believes the media’s focus on same-sex marriage is distracting
