The AGPAL Group of Companies joins the movement to legalise marriage equality

On 9 September 2016, the AGPAL Group of Companies submitted an official letter of support via AustralianMarriageEquality.org in the movement to legalise marriage equality in Australia. A copy of our letter is below.

“We, the AGPAL Group of Companies write to express our strong support for marriage equality.

With company values which embrace and celebrate diversity, partnership and integrity, our staff and Board Directors believe in inclusivity, fair opportunities and entitlements for every one of our Australian community members, no matter their differences.

We recognise the right of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) employees, surveyors, clients, stakeholders, family members and friends to live and work free of prejudice and discrimination. This includes the right to marry the partner of their choice.

Australians are increasingly supportive of marriage equality, with a recent Crosby Textor survey showing seventy‐two percent, believe same sex couples should be allowed to marry. We believe this overwhelming level of support should be reflected with legal change.

Globally, over twenty countries have passed laws to allow same sex marriage, including countries that are culturally similar to ours like New Zealand, the United States of America, Canada, and Great Britain. These countries did so with lower support for marriage equality than Australia is seeing right now. On May 22 2015, the Republic of Ireland held a referendum to sanction same sex marriage. A Yes vote was supported by the Government, all major political parties and the voters themselves. On June 26 2015, the U.S. Supreme court returned a judgement in favour of legalising same sex marriage across all 50 states. These two events see Australia isolated among countries with English as a first language.

By delivering the Rainbow Tick Accreditation Program we actively encourage organisations to address inequities faced by many LGBTI people by assisting health, community and human services to understand and respond to the needs of their LGBTI consumers. Granting marriage equality in Australia will further support our LGBTI community members to live with the same freedoms as everybody else, while being granted the respect and fairness they deserve.

We strongly support marriage equality.”

For more information about the Rainbow Tick Standards, please visit: http://www.qip.com.au/standards/rainbow-tick-standards/

To see which other 1000+ organisations are also supporting marriage equality and to pledge your support, visit: http://www.australianmarriageequality.org/non-profit-support/