Marriage Equality Bill passes

marriage equality bill passesDoctors welcome the decision by Federal Parliament to pass a bill legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. 
 
Dr Catherine Yelland, President of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), said:
 
“The RACP is pleased that the legislation has passed in Federal Parliament and will make same-sex marriage legal in Australia.
 
“Marriage equality is a health issue. Changing the legal definition of marriage to remove discrimination will help ensure legal, societal and health equity for all LGBTI Australians and their families.”
 
Dr Sarah Dalton, President of the RACP’s Paediatrics and Child Health Division, said:
 
“Legalising same-sex marriage means so much to LGBTI parents and it means so much to their children. Ending discrimination and delivering marriage equality will only ensure better health outcomes for these children and their families.”
 
References that have informed the RACP’s position on marriage equality are below: 

Bansel P, Denson N, Ovenden G, Davies C. 2014. Growing Up Queer – Issues Facing Young Australians Who are Gender Variant and Sexuality Diverse. Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre – University of Western Sydney. Crouch. S.R, Waters. E, McNair. R, Power. J, Davis. E. (2014) Parent-reported measures of child health and wellbeing in same-sex parent families: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health2014 14:635. Available from: http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-14-635 Crouch, S. R., Waters, E., McNair, R. and Power, J. (2015), The health perspectives of Australian adolescents from same-sex parent families: a mixed methods study. Child Care Health Dev, 41: 356–364. Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cch.12180/fullAustralian Institute of Family Studies (2013) ‘Same-sex parented families in Australia’. CFCA Paper No. 18 Published December 2013. 26 pp. Available at: https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/same-sex-parented-families-australia/introduction Hatzenbuehler ML, McLaughlin KA, Keyes KM, Hasin DS. 2010. The impact of institutional discrimination on psychiatric disorders in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: a prospective study. American Journal of Public Health http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20075314 Hatzenbuehler ML, O'Cleirigh C, Grasso C, Mayer K, Safren S, Bradford J. 2012. Effect of same-sex marriage laws on health care use and expenditures in sexual minority men: a quasi-natural experiment. American Journal of Public Health. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22390442 Herdt, G. R Kertner, 2006 I Do, but I Can’t: The Impact of Marriage Denial on the Mental Health and Sexual Citizenship of Lesbians and Gay Men in the United States. Journal of Research and Social Policy, March 2006 Lennox, K. B. Acosta, K.L. Wright, E.R. (2015) ‘State-Level Marriage Equality and the Health of Same-Sex Couples’, Am J Public Health June 2015; 105(6): 1101–1105.
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