ࡱ> 132` bjbjss .JJJJ V nnnnnnnn-//////$ h vS[nn[[Snnh["nn-[-nb x XKJ}-~0x Lx x (n"nnnSS nnn[[[[$&$& Hello, I have been with my same-sex partner (Stuart) for almost 10 years. We married in Canada last year, and I just cannot believe that our marriage is not recognised in our own country. It is abhorrent that we are made to feel like second class citizens, as the current Government has changed the Marriage Act to specifically exclude relationship recognition between same sex partners. Is this blatant discrimination or what? By doing this, it implies (to the ugly redneck sector of Australian society) that a same-sex marriage is less worthy than a heterosexual one is. These changes actually condone discrimination against queers, and legitimises (in the eyes of some) to poofter bash. In terms of financial discrimination, we have experienced this when we tried to register as a couple for the Medicare Safety net. We were denied registration as a couple. Both my partner and I receive specialist medical treatment and (because we can only register as singles under the safety net provisions of Medicare) miss out on receiving the reimbursement for medical out of pocket expenses that a heterosexual couple would be entitled to receive. We also have concerns over superannuation issues and what should happen should one of us die. Although we both have wills, I believe laws discriminate against homosexual couples on this issue. Why should homosexual couples be forced to have to put down everything in writing regarding wanting all their assets, etc to go to their partner - where this usually happens automatically in heterosexual relationships? My understanding with some superannuation schemes too, is that a same-sex partner is required to pay a 30% tax to receive the benefit of their partners superannuation (on his or her death) but no such tax applies for a heterosexual partner in the same situation. I urge you to please do all you can to stamp out issues of discrimination toward homosexuals and homosexual couples in all aspects of Australian law. Yours sincerely, Steven Thomas and Stuart Main hM hMhMOJQJ^JmH sH  (d\$gdM ,1h. A!"#$% @@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DAD Default Paragraph FontRiR  Table Normal4 l4a (k(No ListH@H U Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJ(000000000(h00@0h00h00h00h00h00j000  itY!iYY__B*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagscountry-region9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplace  3,,55gn ww"_?=MU@41NNNP@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial5& zaTahoma"qhrfrf//!242HX(?M2Hello,Samantha EdmondsSamantha EdmondsOh+'0ph  $ 0 <HPX`Hello,Samantha Edmonds Normal.dotSamantha Edmonds2Microsoft Office Word@@v4K@v4K/Oh+'0dX @  0 P 8( HHello, Normal.dot1Microsoft Office Word/   !"#%&'()*+.Root Entry Fp"XK0Data  1TableWordDocument.SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8$CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89qRoot Entry Fhh5Data  1TableWordDocument. 4$ SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8hCompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q՜.+,D՜.+,4 hpx   Hello, Title 4 $,