Same-sex parents deserve equality

That's the comment of Alistair Nicholson, former Chief Justice of the Australian Family Court, in relation to the recent passage of civil union legislation in the main territory of Australia.

He said much more, and it deserves to be spread around as much as possible:

SAME-sex parents should have the same rights afforded to heterosexual parents, a former chief justice of the Family Court said today.

Alistair Nicholson said it was time the rest of Australia fell into line with modern notions of marriage and what it meant to be a good parent.

"I just don't see why same-sex couples should not be able to receive the same freedoms and rights as other people - and I don't see why their children should be discriminated against, either," Mr Nicholson said on SBS.

Traditional notions of marriage were changing and it was time Australia considered what was best for the children of same-sex couples, Mr Nicholson said.

"There is no formal recognition of it (gay relationships) in the law, which I think is an act of cruelty both to them and to the children," Mr Nicholson said today.

There was "not a shred" of credible evidence to support arguments that children brought up in a gay relationship were significantly disadvantaged.

"It seems to me people are forgetting the children in all this equation ... (and) the important thing for children is loving parents," Mr Nicholson said.

"It is highly likely that children would be much better off in a homosexual relationship than a heterosexual relationship that is not a good one."

How about that!

And in relation to a concept so dear to Justice Scalia (that of interpreting the law - and the Constitution - according to the original intent when the law was written, with no regard to the passage of time), Mr. Nicholson said, "It seems to me that to freeze a concept in time is a mistake."

Why don't we have more jurists like that in this country?