Resurgent prejudice: Responses to marriage equality in Australia

Abstract

This article explores the concept of resurgent prejudice in response to marriage equality in Australia. We are using the term “resurgent prejudice” to refer to examples of reactionary collective action directed towards the rainbow community in Australia, with a specific focus on efforts to undermine progressive developments in sexual citizenship. We argue that Australia is currently seeing forms of resurgent prejudice in response to the passage of marriage equality legislation in 2017 by the federal Parliament and use the highly controversial Religious Discrimination Bill of 2022 as an example to illustrate this process. By making use of interviews with members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (rainbow) community, we highlight the concerns members of the rainbow community have regarding their rights, sexual citizenship and social participation. We conclude the article by arguing that vigilance is vital in the face of resurgent prejudice to preserve social and civil rights, and that an awareness of the concept of resurgent prejudice can be used by advocates to strengthen their social movements.