AUSTRALIA, September 5, 2016 (Gay News Network): The Australian Council of Hindu Clergy has proclaimed its support for marriage equality. Whilst the council acknowledges that marriage, (vivaha) as defined by Hindu Dharma Shastras is between a man and a woman for the purpose it acknowledges that in Australian secular law, marriage is not a sacrament (samskara). In a statement online the society writes:
“[Marriage] is about the legal union of two persons and involves social security, inheritance of property, legal and human rights and social privileges. It has nothing to do with vivaha as interpreted by Shastra — the two concepts are separate — the religious vs the secular.
“We affirm that the samskara (religious sacrament) of vivaha (Hindu Marriage) is technically between a Hindu man and woman and not applicable to same sex couples — the traditional Vedic mantras are very specific and cannot be modified.
“[But] We totally support human rights and equality of gender within the secular Australian society in which we live, and have no opposition whatsoever to any changes in the law and the legal definition of marriage that the democratic society deems necessary for the well-being and happiness of all citizens whatever be their gender.”