A crowd in Wollongong has been told It possible to speak about same-sex marriage 'calmly and respectfully' in the public sphere.

The comment came as St Michael’s Cathedral in Wollongong hosted a lecture and Q&A examining the current debate around same sex marriage in Australia.

The public event was primarily designed to inform Christians about the implications of the debate, but was also intended to be accessible to non-Christians and gay and lesbians.

“Substantially, people were church goers from a variety of backgrounds in the Illawarra area, and a few people from further afield,” says the Canon of St Michael’s, the Rev Sandy Grant, who gave the lecture. “There were a few non Christians in the crowd apparently as well. There was one Muslim lady who I had a chance to personally speak to, and while I don’t know if there were people who identify as gay and lesbian in the crowd, I had some interaction with people on Facebook in the lead up to the event.”

The main lecture focused on defining marriage from a biblical point of view, and then moved to a discussion of why this view was worth defending both in and outside the church.

“There were really two main ideas,” says Mr Grant. “First there’s this idea that marriage is fundamentally oriented towards children. That’s not to say all marriages can or should have children, but that the gendered nature of the union models a kind of relationship oriented towards children. The second idea is that a redefinition of marriage then results in a redefinition of family at the institutional level, and therefore institutionalises the ability to deny a child a mother or father. For various reasons, many quite necessary, some children don’t have that anyway, but this is about potentially institutionalising that denial at the first point.”

Mr Grant says this is an issue that is important for Christians to engage with in a thoughtful manner, particularly for young Christians, as it is an issue at the heart of the lives of many of their peers.

“We really wanted to speak Christians in this city, and especially young people, who have grown up in a world that says homosexual activity is part of the regular fabric of what goes on,” says Mr Grant. “There are many who know the church is against same sex marriage, but don’t get it, or don’t get why we campaign on it in the public arena. I was concerned that we explain the deep, biblical, theological rationale for the Christian view of marriage, and that means a large part of the lecture wasn’t about homosexuality per se, but unpacking marriage itself.”

He also encourages others to engage with the wider public on an issue, in a thoughtful and peaceful manner.

“It possible to speak about this issue calmly and respectfully into the public sphere, even with people who don’t share our presuppositions,” he says. “We’ll be called all sorts of things as a result, people will suggest we are bigots for putting a case forward, and while we can respond to that, it’s likely still going to happen. But we should take courage, and still speak as clearly and calmly as possible.”

Main photo: Sandy Grant makes a point to the crowd (Credit: Mark Whitelock)