Culture

Channels 7 And 9 Aired An Anti-Same Sex Marriage Ad On Mardi Gras Night

WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN.

by Alex McKinnon  9 March 2015

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As sure as beautiful glowing lights attract ugly irritating moths, Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras attracts a number of Concerned Citizens convinced a celebration of LGBTI rights and culture will bring about the Rapture or something. NSW politician and human carapace the Reverend Fred Nile is the most familiar of these figures, having achieved a certain level of notoriety by praying each year for rain to wash out the parade (much like certain types of cat, gay people are notoriously averse to running water).

But this year the Can’t Mind Our Own Damn Business Coalition have stepped up their efforts, making a very US-style ad warning of the “dangers” of legalising same-sex marriage and letting kids be raised by two people who love each other, and trying to put it to air on Australian TV during the parade.

SBS, who broadcast the parade and whose budget has recently been cut, refused to broadcast the ad, to the chagrin of the “family doctor” in the video, Dr David van Gend — who also happens to be the president of the Australian Marriage Forum, the group who made the ad. “As I see it, this is a case of censorship by a public broadcaster of even the mildest expression of ‘unacceptable opinion’ on same-sex marriage. That is a disgrace,” van Gend said in an email to his followers yesterday.

Happily for van Gend and co., though, channels 7 and 9 were more than happy to broadcast AMF’s ad on the night of Mardi Gras in exchange for sweet far-right fundamentalist cash money, because how could any negative consequences come of doing that.

In response to the controversy, Fred Nile posted on Twitter that “parenting, not promiscuity, is worth celebrating”. Unnamed sources encouraged the good Reverend to make a tangible demonstration against promiscuity and go fuck himself.