The Australian Marriage Equality Debate: A Qualitative Analysis of the Self-Reported Lived Experience of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer (LGBTIQ) People

Abstract

This study explored the lived experiences of a sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) people during the Australian Government postal survey on legal recognition of same-sex marriage (August to November 2017). Negative impacts of public voting and debates on marriage equality for LGBTIQ people have been previously documented in United States, but less so in other national contexts. Thematic analysis was conducted using written responses of LGBTIQ participants ( N = 5,313) to open-ended questions on a larger survey. Findings revealed that LGBTIQ participants experienced the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey debate as a pervasive and predominantly negative event. Participants reported experiences of prejudice and discrimination and increased fear, anxiety, anger, and depression. They also described the harm and hurt caused by widespread negative images of and messages about LGBTIQ people. Some participants felt their lives were under threat and reported psychological distress, including thoughts of suicide. Although a few participants noted positive support that helped them cope, most participants perceived the debate and vote as a highly stressful, socially fracturing process that threatened interpersonal relationships with family members, workmates, and communities. Many participants described feeling betrayed by the government, country, and Church. These findings extend previous studies that document the public health impacts of political processes that publicly debate the human rights of LGBTIQ individuals.

A qualitative exploration of the impact of the marriage equality debate on same‐sex attracted Australians and their allies

“…Results of the current study build on the existing literature in this space (e.g., Ecker, Riggle, et al, 2019; Ecker, Rostosky, et al, 2019; Verrelli et al, 2019; Anderson, Koc, et al, 2020) to further highlight the important implications for policy makers, mental health professionals, and the general public. Future policy should aim to reduce prejudice and discrimination associated with the introduction and increasing prevalence of same‐sex marriages into society, with the aim of decreasing minority stress experienced by same‐sex attracted people and their allies.…”

“…However, the documented range of impacts continues to expand. We found evidence for personal and social impacts in our in‐depth, face‐to‐face interviews with both same‐sex attracted people and their allies, while the existing qualitative study in this field used online open‐ended response data from same‐sex attracted individuals (but not allies) that was evidence for intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional impacts (Ecker, Rostosky, et al, 2019). Our analyses elicited some of the same themes as those reported in the qualitative analysis of short, online open‐ended responses measured in this research, however most themes that emerged did so at a different ‘level’.…”

“…Taken together, these findings are revealing a pattern of sexual minority stress effects on non‐heterosexual individuals. While the effects of debate‐related stress were stronger for LGBTIQ people than for allies (Ecker, Riggle, et al, 2019; Ecker, Rostosky, et al, 2019) and for same‐sex attracted gender diverse individuals than opposite‐sex attracted gender diverse individuals, these studies provides evidence for the impact of sexual minority stress on heterosexual individuals. The second major aim of this article is to add to this literature by conducting an in‐depth qualitative exploration to establish the range of the impacts of the postal survey and the surrounding debate on allies.…”

“…The extant research exploring the impact of the postal survey and the associated debate on same‐sex attracted people and has used mainly quantitative methods—A single study has used qualitative methods to explore these impacts (Ecker, Rostosky, Riggle, Riley, & Byrnes, 2019), in which they asked participants to share their feelings about the postal survey in an open‐ended question format. Across their large data set of responses ( n = 5,313), participants described perceptions of perceived impacts of the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional levels.…”

“…A small body of research has explored the impact of this discriminatory event on same‐sex attracted people and has used mainly quantitative methods (Ecker, Riggle, et al, 2019; Ecker, Rostosky, et al, 2019; Just.Equal, 2017; Verrelli et al, 2019; Anderson, Dredge, et al, 2020). A smaller body of research study has explored the impact of this discriminatory event on LGBTIQ allies , and has only used quantitative methods (Ecker, Riggle, et al, 2019; Anderson, Koc, et al, 2020).…”