As a signatory to a submission to a Senate committee inquiry into same-sex marriage equality, Professor George has asserted that the recognition of same-sex marriage would damage “the health of our nation”. He also linked marriage equality with a likely rise in the spread of disease by “normalising” same-sex sexual activity.

According to Phil Lynch of the Human Rights Law Centre, however, the prejudice and homophobia that underpin such views is the real threat to public health and well-being. “It is well established that discrimination is damaging to the health of individuals, families and communities,” said Mr Lynch. “At its worst, discrimination and homophobia can lead to mental illness and suicide.” A major VicHealth report in 2007 found that discrimination can have “a devastating impact on health”, as well as high social and economic costs.

Mr Lynch said that it is difficult to reconcile Professor George’s views on marriage equality and lawful same-sex conduct with his duties as a Board member of the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Under the Equal Opportunity Act, the Commission is mandated to eliminate discrimination and harassment, including on the grounds of “sexual orientation” or “lawful sexual activity”. The Commission is also required to exercise all of its functions compatibly with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, which enshrines the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

According to Mr Lynch, the Equal Opportunity Act explicitly recognises that discrimination causes social harm and disadvantage. “All Board members of the Commission must take a stand for equality and against discrimination. The perpetuation of harmful stereotypes is incongruous with the Board’s duties and functions.”

Mr Lynch also said that the conflict between Professor George’s public statements and his statutory responsibilities highlights the need for greater transparency and public consultation in the appointment of Commission Board members. “It is imperative that appointees to the Board have a strong commitment to the principles and practice of human rights and non-discrimination. Their duty is to promote the right to equality, not to undermine it.”

Mr Lynch said that, “As a private citizen, Professor George has a fundamental human right to freedom of religious belief and expression. If, however, those beliefs are fundamentally incompatible with his duties as a Board member, he should resign that public office.”

The President has always supported equal benefits for same-sex couples and – since the day he took office — he has asked Congress to repeal the “Defense of Marriage Act” (which forbids a same-sex marriage from receiving full force and effect in states that do not recognize same-sex marriage).

The President’s statement is significant not for any legal impact, but rather for the power of it being said at all. For the first time in history, the President of the United States has acknowledged the dignity of the commitment of gay and lesbian people to one another, and his belief that their relationships be accorded the same respect as heterosexual couples in America.

I was born in the same year as the President – 1961 – a time when same-sex attraction was considered a medical disease, and virtually no one publicly acknowledged being gay or lesbian. If you go back to movies from that era, gay and lesbian people were rarely depicted at all, and if they were, it was only to be mocked and vilified. Gay-bashing was a common event – youths would beat up or kill a person just for “seeming” gay. In fact, being gay or lesbian was against the law in many states. Although some small gay activist groups formed in the 1970s, most civil rights groups did not want to be associated with gay causes, and their complaints were rarely reported in the media. So gay and lesbian people often kept their relationships and their feelings secret rather than risk abuse, mistreatment, and discrimination.

In the early 1980s, mainstream Americans finally began to confront the fact that people – people whom they liked and admired – were gay or lesbian, in part because of the tragic revelations that came out of the AIDS epidemic. People were stunned to learn that movie stars like Rock Hudson and Anthony Perkins were gay, that the great dancer Rudolf Nureyev was gay, or that the lead singer of “Queen,” Freddie Mercury, was gay. Suddenly, people – both straight and gay – began to see that people whom they worked with and admired, family members whom they loved, celebrities whom they idolized, were gay or lesbian.

It is hard now to remember that it took great courage for popular figures like Ellen Degeneres (The Ellen DeGeneres Show) to acknowledge her same-sex relationship – in fact it was still headline news when she announced it. And yet, over time, more and more straight Americans came to see that the people they worked with, admired, and loved were just that — people they worked with, admired, and loved — regardless of whether those people were straight or gay.

The love and commitment between two people – be they straight or gay – are just part of who we are; it does not end at a state’s border, or depend on their beliefs or politics. As President Obama said in his 2004 Convention speech: “We coach Little League in the Blue States, and, yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the Red States.” And so, like many people, through the years, the President’s views about gay relationships and rights have changed and evolved. What was normal in the 1950s and the 1960s – the systematic abuse, mistreatment, stigmatizing, and discrimination against gay and lesbian people – is now shameful to all decent Americans. Committed relationships between men and between women, rather than being hidden, are now normal, and are portrayed as any other relationship would be in television programs.

And so today when the President of the United States says that he doesn’t see any reason why a same-sex couple should not be able to marry, it is significant. A group of Americans, who were once victimized, now know that a President has witnessed their journey and respects their lives and loves and families and contributions to our nation.

Jeffrey L. Bleich is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Australia.