The Brisbane Times ran the story "Faith groups silent on gay civil unions" - an interesting title considering our president Mr Kim Hollow was quoted in the story! Please read the news story here:

Faith groups silent on gay civil unions

Representatives of three out of four faith groups nominated by an opponent of same-sex civil unions have refused to buy into the debate.

The conservative Australian Christian Lobby and numerous church leaders fronted a parliamentary committee hearing last week to voice opposition to a bill that would allow same-sex couples and straight couples to register their relationships as a “civil partnership”.

One of the committee's members, independent Maryborough MP Chris Foley, said he agreed society should not move away from traditional marriage involving a man and a woman, but he was worried Christians were “often portrayed as being hateful or spiteful towards gay people”. 

Mr Foley said he was “concerned that the Christian faith has become the pariah or the whipping boy for this argument” and called for feedback from other religions, suggesting the Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh communities would also support traditional marriage.

But most faith group representatives contacted by brisbanetimes.com.au yesterday did not want to express a view on the proposed bill, which was unveiled by Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser last month.

The Hindu Society of Queensland, the Islamic Council of Queensland, and the head of the Brisbane Sikh Temple at Eight Mile Plains declined to comment on the proposal.

But Kim Hollow, the president of the Buddhist Council of Queensland and president of the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils, said he was comfortable with the idea of allowing civil unions to be registered in Queensland.

“My personal view is that we don't have an objection to same-sex relationships per se and then that follows that same-sex civil unions or marriages we have no objection to,” he said last night.

“I think our community generally have a view that it's live and let live and I can't for the life of me think of why people would object to it.”

Mr Hollow said Buddhism objected to what was termed “sexual misconduct, which would mean [having] a variety of partners”.

The committee considering the bill has so far received about 5000 submissions, many of them short emails from supporters and opponents of the bill.

Christian and conservative family groups told the hearing the civil unions bill was being rushed for political reasons and the proposal would mimic marriage, which should remain only between a man and a woman.

Mr Foley, who has previously voiced his opposition to the bill, last week called for wider input from non-Christian faith groups.

“I am also disappointed personally that we have not seen religions other than the Christian faith present here,” he told the hearing.

“It is my understanding that, in any multicultural society like ours where we take great care to look towards the views and sensibilities of other religions, there might be members of the Islamic community, the Buddhist community, the Hindu community, the Sikh community who all have similarly strong support of traditional marriage.”

Mr Fraser has argued the time has come to recognise and validate same-sex relationships, saying couples should be able to have a ceremony if they wish and register their relationship in Queensland.

Although numerous Christian leaders have criticised the bill, Peter Catt, the Dean of St Johns Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane, said the proposed legislation represented “good law-making for a pluralistic society”.

“It does not affect the right of churches or other religious groups to celebrate marriage according to their own understanding, while also recognising the breadth of the community in which we live,” Dr Catt said, speaking as the chair of the Social Responsibility Committee within the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane.

Liberal National Party leader Campbell Newman has not followed Labor's lead in allowing MPs a free vote on the bill, dismissing Mr Fraser's push as an election-related stunt. The LNP will vote as a bloc against the move.

The bill is due for debate later this month, after the government decided to fast-track the measure.

It is expected to be voted on in the days leading up to the separate national Labor party conference, which will discuss whether same-sex marriage should be allowed in Australia. Marriage laws are a federal matter.