Let's be honest. Abrahamic faiths — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — find any behaviour outside what they deem the sexual norm to be a fundamental threat to family and community.
That doesn't stop Jews, Christians and Muslims from being gay, lesbian, bisexual etc. It also doesn't stop some religious leaders from overcoming their moral qualms and embracing LGBTIQ parishioners. But the fact remains that a fair few devout folk, as well as not-so-devout bigots, will take all lawful steps to stop the lawful recognition of same sex marriage.
Notwithstanding all the obstacles, despite the No folk having virtually the entire Newscorp press on side, Aussies expressed an overwhelming wish to have parliament change the definition of marriage to include Adam and Steve.
Most Aussies, but not all. I strongly doubt my mum voted Yes. A majority of her Sydney electorate of Bennelong, which has a huge South and East Asian population, voted No. Western Sydney electorates, including Parramatta, Reid and Blaxland, home to large Middle Eastern communities (both Christian and Muslim) voted No.
It wasn't just conservative Sydney Anglicans, Catholics or the Australian Christian Lobby that encouraged people to vote No. During the month of Muharram, sacred to Shia Muslims, the No message was being handed out at mosques and spoken from the pulpits.
Sunni Muslims, including influential home-grown imams, reminded the flock about Sodom and Gomorrah, of the sinful nature of homosexual intercourse and of how the sacred law only recognises Adam and Eve and their not-so-same sex relations. They repeated the ACL mantra of the slippery slope and of Safe Schools programs transforming their sons into skirt-wearing queers.
These imams were condemned and harassed by newspapers like The Australian, which happily allowed almost identical messages to be printed on their pages. What's good for the conservative Christian goose isn't good for the conservative Muslim gander.
"Does the concept of solidarity between minorities mean anything in this time of majoritarian populism?"
Interestingly, none of the No material featured pictures of men in beards or women in headscarves. East Asian faces were prominent. Was this done out of fear or prejudice? Or was it the No folk taking Muslims for granted? I have no idea how Muslims as a whole voted. Many of them don't reside in the usual 'Muslim' suburbs. There is a substantial LGBTIQ Muslim population, though many prefer not to go public about their sexuality.
But there's another deeper point in all this. What we seem to be witnessing is the phenomenon of members of minority groups (in this case Asians of East, West and South variety) not supporting the rights of other minorities (i.e. LGBTIQ, perhaps even their own relatives).
My electorate of Bennelong happily tossed out John Howard in favour of a former ABC journalist when his anti-migrant sentiments and inconsistencies just became too much for them. South Asians of all persuasions were furious at the treatment of terror suspect Dr Haneef. Race is one thing, but how will Asians with socially conservative allies react to a candidate who is devoutly Catholic but openly supported gay marriage, largely for theological reasons?
And what is it about non-Western Christianity and conservative Islam that enables minorities of these kinds to turn on other minorities? Does the concept of solidarity between minorities mean anything in this time of majoritarian populism?
LGBTIQ communities aren't exactly known for their racism and bigotry. They have been the subject of plenty of bigotry themselves. For centuries, western communities regarded homosexuality to be not only unethical but also criminal.
Consider these dates. South Australia decriminalised male homosexuality in 1975. In NSW, discrimination against homosexuals was made illegal in 1982. In WA, consenting sex between homosexual men was removed from the Criminal Code in 1990. Meanwhile the final steps of the White Australia Policy were removed in 1973, while the Racial Discrimination Act was introduced at Commonwealth level in 1975.
The struggle against homophobia and racism have gone hand in hand. Prominent members of the LGBTIQ community have stood up against racism and Islamophobia.
Far-Right bigots sought to attribute ISIL's acts, including throwing suspected gay men from tall buildings, to the average Australian Muslim. The clear purpose was to create a wedge between LGBTIQ and Muslim folk. The 2016 attack on an Orlando gay nightclub was presented as another act of Islamic homophobia. When the Prime Minister hosted a Ramadan dinner, allegedly conservative sections of the media harped on about some imams in attendance with homophobic views, as if to show they were out of touch with mainstream values.
Ironically, these same media outlets hammered the Yes campaign and openly supported even the most homophobic messages of the No campaign.
Many Muslims voted Yes not because we wanted to reinvent the Islamic idea of marriage, but because the scriptures teach that we should stand up for justice even if it goes against our families and ourselves. Partial recognition of LGBTI rights creates manifest injustice for people in same sex relationships as well as their children.
Maybe the No campaign was for many in my mum's generation really a vote about homosexuality itself. That debate has already been lost. The task must surely now be about securing justice for all minorities. Including minorities that other minorities regard as sinful.
Irfan Yusuf is a Sydney based lawyer and blogger.