Tony Abbott bombarded with gay wedding invitations
Couples put pressure on the Australian PM as cross-party vote on marriage equality looms
Same-sex couples in Australia are bombarding Prime Minister Tony Abbott with wedding invitations, as he decides whether his party can have a free vote on marriage equality.
Abbott has long opposed same-sex marriage, but many within his party have indicated that they would back the bill if they are allowed to vote with their consciences later this month.
The website InviteTony is piling the pressure on Abbott by allowing couples across the country to invite the leader to their wedding celebrations.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"We already have the will of the people," say campaigners. "All we need now is the action of our politicians. Many of them are on board. But there are some who still need convincing - most notably Tony himself."
Pink News notes that "so far the Prime Minister's schedule looks very busy," with over 60 wedding invitations already sent out.
Justine Moss and Romy Calati are among those who have invited Abbott. They have a seven-year-old son Edmund, but the state does not recognise them as legal partners.
"I'm not too concerned if he [Abbott] doesn't believe in same-sex marriage, but he should be allowing his party to have a conscience vote," said Moss. "I want to see change for Edmund. So he sees that our family is no different to any other family. He is just as important with two mothers as he is would be with a mother and a father."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Last month, opposition leader Bill Shorten accused the leader of standing in the way of progress and equality by not allowing a conscience vote.
"Every day that Tony Abbott denies his MPs a free vote, he is denying millions of Australians a fundamental right [to marriage]," he told The Guardian.
Abbott's own sister, who is gay and wants to get married, has also criticised him for failing the LGBT community.
-
Saving for a down payment on a house? Here is how and where to save.the explainer The first step of the homebuying process can be one of the hardest
-
Music reviews: Zach Bryan, Dry Cleaning, and Madison BeerFeature “With Heaven on Top,” “Secret Love,” and “Locket”
-
Book reviews: ‘The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives and Divides Us’ and ‘Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor’Feature The pursuit of ‘mattering’ and a historic, devastating family secret
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Australia weighs new gun laws after antisemitic attackSpeed Read A father and son opened fire on Jewish families at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing at least 15
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout