MEDIA RELEASE: NEW IRISH VIDEO WARNS AUSTRALIA ABOUT HUMAN COST OF PLEBISCITE

just.equal & PFLAG

Media Release
Sunday October 30th 2016

IRELAND WARNS AUSTRALIA AGAINST PLEBISCITE
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS HUMAN COST
CAMPAIGNERS STEP UP CAMPAIGN TO BLOCK PLEBISCITE

Marriage equality advocates are keeping the up pressure on parliament to vote down a plebiscite with the release of videoed interviews highlighting the true cost of the 2015 Irish marriage equality referendum.

The interviews are with Irish LGBTI people and their family members who describe the long-term hurt and harm the referendum campaign inflicted.

The video will be the centrepiece of the anti-plebiscite campaign in the days leading up to the final Senate vote, with supporters asked to share it with their federal members through the makeitlaw.com.au website.

The video was commissioned by PFLAG and just.equal and produced by Niall Crowley, managing director of Irish communications company, "We the People".

Spokesperson for LGBTI lobby group, just.equal, Ivan Hinton-Teoh said,

"We are stepping up our campaign against a plebiscite and for a free vote to be absolutely sure it is knocked on the head."

"The Make It Law campaign has already delivered over 400,000 emails to MPs and Senators from everyday Australians calling on the plebiscite to be blocked."

"In the final days before the Senate vote we will be encouraging even more Australians to now share this powerful video with their politicians."

National spokesperson for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Shelley Argent, said,

"I think what this video shows is that public votes on marriage equality put a huge and unnecessary strain on same-sex couples and their families."

"Warren Entsch has proposed a less expensive online plebiscite but that misses the point."

"The fundamental problem with a plebiscite is the human cost not the financial cost."

"The question for me is what path to marriage equality is best for our LGBTI children and I think that is clearly a free vote in parliament, not a plebiscite."

Dr Sharon Dane co-authored "Swimming with Sharks", a recently-released study through the University of Queensland and Victoria University of over 1,500 LGBTI Irish people and their families. The study is not directly linked to the video but it did look at the negative psychological and social impact of the Irish referendum campaign. Dr Dane said,

"The video interviews are in keeping with what our study found - that there was a hidden cost to the Irish referendum."

"Many same-sex couples and their families are still suffering from the hurtful and negative messages the referendum enabled."

The Senate is expected to debate the Government's proposed plebiscite legislation the week starting November 7th.