Anyone reading the national newspapers in recent weeks will have found it difficult to avoid the countless headlines dedicated to diatribes of ultra-conservative lobbyists in their personal crusade against proposals to lift the ban on gay marriage in Scotland.

In an effort to deter the Scottish Government from providing same-sex couples with equality under the law, and in the theatrical style that only gay marriage opponents are capable of, we have been warned that it would be a “grotesque subversion”, an “act of cultural vandalism” that would “shame Scotland in the eyes of the world”.

Those politicians who support equal marriage are pandering to the “gay rights lobby” that espouse “whatever happens to be the secular moral vogue of the day”. Civil partnerships have been described as a novelty, while same-sex marriage has been compared to incest and bestiality. To give their argument more punch, senior Catholic bishops have threatened the Scottish Government with the electoral wrath of 800,000 Catholic voters.

Putting aside the damage done to their own cause by their rhetoric, opponents of gay marriage are significantly over-playing their influence. We know that a majority of the public support lifting the ban on same-sex marriage. The respected Scottish Social Attitudes Survey has shown that support has been increasing for over two decades. In 2010, 79 per cent of people said they supported, or did not oppose, same-sex marriage. This included a majority of those from all the major faith groups and political parties, including 57 per cent of Scottish Catholics.
Equal marriage is popular among the public because the case for change is clear. The principle of equality under the law is rightly valued in Scotland. This makes the current segregated system of family law all the more unacceptable. A system whereby mixed-sex couples can enter into the socially and religiously significant institution of marriage, while same-sex couples are offered the separate and symbolically different institution of civil partnership, cannot be described as equality.

The status quo also restricts religious freedom, another principle Scotland holds in esteem. Currently the state bans faith groups from making up their own minds on whether to solemnise same-sex marriage. They are simply not allowed, regardless of their beliefs. For same-sex couples of faith, and groups like the Unitarians, the Quakers, liberal Jews, Buddhists, and the Humanists, who perform more marriages in Scotland than the Catholic Church, this is an infringement on their desire to solemnise same-sex marriages.

So, with a strong case and the support of a majority of the public, what are equal marriage proponents concerned about? Surely the Scottish Parliament will pass legislation to lift the ban on same-sex marriage as a matter of course? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Gay marriage opponents have pledged an organised and well-resourced campaign. The Catholic Church is distributing 100,000 campaign postcards to urge negative responses to the Scottish Government’s same-sex marriage consultation, and petitions are - literally - being pushed around church pews in an effort to drum up opposition.
The worry is that the progressive majority in Scotland, assuming legislation will be passed, will not bother to respond to the consultation. This could result in marriage equality being kicked into the long grass, and could have a devastating impact on Scottish social policy for years to come. If progressives want Scotland’s politicians to lift the ban on gay marriage they must speak out.

Students will be key to deciding the outcome of the consultation. Scotland’s students have always been at the helm of progressive movements for change. During the 1980s it was the student movement that led campaigns against the apartheid in South Africa; more recently, it has been students leading calls for greater action to tackle climate change. If the voice of the majority is to be heard it will require students, one of the most progressive and politically active groups in Scottish society, to speak up. That’s why the Equal Marriage campaign is calling on all students to respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation before 9 December deadline. If you believe in equality it’s time to let it be known.

Tom French is the Policy Coordinator of the Equality Network. If you would like to respond to the Scottish Government same-sex marriage consultation visit: www.equalmarriage.org.uk.