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Calling out the Coalition For Marriage for what it is
About Maxine
Ys editor-in-chief ... and campaigner of your causes.
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As predicted at the start of this sorry plebiscite saga, a bunch of bile-spreading ignorants are already spewing hate, fear and lies across Australia in their bid to prevent same-sex couples being afforded the human right to marry here.
It started with a TV ad endorsed by the Coalition for Marriage - the key organisation behind the No campaign and closely linked to the Australian Christian Lobby - which has been called out on its offensive, hurtful lies.
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The group claims that the ad will help Australians understand that "saying 'yes' to gay marriage means saying 'yes' to radical gay sex education in schools.
But a Melbourne school principal today hit back today at claims made in the ad by Cella White, the first mother to appear in the highly controversial ad, saying that that her son was told he could wear a dress to school next year if he liked.
Frankston High principal John Albiston denies this ever happened.
Sadly, it seems the warnings to PM Malcolm Turnbull from the gay community and medical experts that a plebiscite would lead to further abuse and identity shaming were bang on.
Pathetically, fear in ignorant people has a tendency to manifest like this.
To me, it smacks of a time when religious zealots called out nature-loving pagan women as "witches" and burned them at the stake. Or "good Christian men" enslaved black minorites, or used lynching as a tool of terror.
It seems that once again, religious zealots driven by ignorance and fear are rallying to drive off those that are different to them, in the name of Christ.
Lies, fear-mongering and ignorance - supposedly frowned upon in Christian teachings - are being used as their weapons in a self-declared war of righteousness.
I'm sorry, but that's not consistent with the Australia that I know and love. Let's keep the debate clean, honest and respectful. There's already too much hate in the world.
Meanwhile, in the thick of all of this is that smirk-faced excuse for a politician Tony Abbott, who keeps pushing his one-eyed religious agenda - despite his own sister being gay.
It should come as no surpise, then, that I enjoyed a feeling of poetic justice this week when an Australian court ruled that it's perfectly OK to call Tony Abbott a c**t!
FOOTNOTE: By the way, here's a link to the organisations listed as Official Partners of the Coalition For Marriage. Maybe a bit of lobbying could see them take a kinder approach to resistance.
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