These Australian mothers are worried that same-sex marriage will make their sons wear dresses
The first anti-same-sex marriage advert to air on Australian TV ahead of the national postal vote has sparked outrage.
The 30-second message, created by the Coalition for Marriage, uses scaremongering techniques around children to urge viewers to oppose equal marriage.
Kids could be encouraged to cross-dress or – heaven forbid – told to roleplay as same-sex couples, mothers tell the audience.
“School told my son he can wear a dress next year if he felt like it,” one mother says.
The next mother tells the camera: “When same-sex marriage passes as law overseas this type of programme become [sic] widespread and compulsory.”
The phrase “this type of programme” seems to refer to the previous statement that children could choose whether or not to wear a dress, which is of course completely harmless.
The advert then tells viewers: “In countries with gay marriage, parents have lost their rights to choose.”
The third mother then complains that “kids in year seven are being asked to role play being in a same-sex relationship”.
Just imagine: children being allowed to mentally explore their sexuality, or even empathising with LGBT+ people. Oh, the horror.
Labour Party leader Bill Shorten condemned the ad and accused Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of “giving the green light to this rubbish,” according to The Guardian.
The ad displayed a “freedom to hurt…not freedom of speech,” Shorten continued.
“This is offensive and hurtful to LGBTI Australians and their families.
“This is exactly what was predicted when Malcolm Turnbull decided to waste $122m on a postal survey,” he added.
Tiernan Brady, executive director of The Equality Campaign, which is pro-same-sex marriage, said: “The people behind this ad know that Australians believe everyone should have the same opportunity to marry, so they are deliberately resorting to misleading people.”
The advert is being spread by the Coalition for Marriage and the Australian Christian Lobby, authorised by Marriage Alliance spokeswoman Sophie York.
The campaign group states on its site that “removing gender from our marriage laws means removing gender from the classroom.”
It speaks in horrified tones about the idea that a move towards equal marriage could lead to “classes which present homosexuality as normal”.
And the organisation protests against the fact that people can’t publicise these homophobic views without incurring a backlash – which it calls an attack on freedom of speech.
Brady continued: “Sadly, the Australian people will now hear a daily dose of red herrings and dishonesty served up by a huge bucket of cash.
“Marriage Equality can be a unifying moment for our nation as we move to include all Australians in our marriage laws.
“Despite such provocation, we remain committed to a respectful campaign of conversations,” he added.
Another anti-same-sex marriage advert, released online by the Australian Conservatives, states that “if same-sex marriage is given legal recognition, it will become mandatory for schools to teach children inappropriate sexual materials.”
Australia is facing a tidal wave of homophobic hate speech ahead of the unauthorised postal vote on equal marriage.
Related: What the hell is going on in Australia?
A homophobic anti-same-sex marriage advert seen in Melbourne used the words “STOP THE FAGS”.
This was above the nonsense statistics that 92% of children raised by gay parents are abused, 51% have depression, and 72% are obese.
Critics said the poster proved the postal vote was allowing for an outpouring of bigotry.
Watch the full Coalition for Marriage advert below:
