Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd changed his position on marriage equality after consulting his conscience. Back in May, Rudd wrote a lengthy essay on his blog explaining his change of heart, in which he came to the conclusion that “the secular Australian state should be able to recognise same-sex marriage.”
On Monday night, the prime minister was challenged on these views during a televised debate by an Australian pastor. The pastor wanted to know, “Why, if you call yourself a Christian, why don’t you believe the words of Jesus in the Bible?”
“If I was going to have that view, the Bible also says that slavery’s a natural condition,” Rudd said.
“If you think that homosexuality is an unnatural condition,” the prime minister said, “then frankly I cannot agree with you based on any element of the science.”
Taking the side that homosexuality is innate, the prime minister went on to ask “Should, therefore, their loving relationships be legally recognized? And the conclusion I’ve reached is that they should.”
Citing a number of studies, including one by the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics from 2010, Rudd concluded that “same-sex families do not compromise children’s development.”
Evan Puschak