A small but vocal group of protesters has ambushed and heckled the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard before she delivered a key speech on Wednesday night in Sydney.
Gillard was due to give the Sydney Institute's annual address at the conservative think tank's exclusive annual dinner in Sydney's Luna Park. But Gillard got more than she bargained for when she was greeted by hundreds of placard waving supporters of same-sex marriage.
Niall Smithe of Refern told Xinhua that it was time for Gillard to 'get a close look at the real faces' behind the fight for same-sex marriage. "She has been hiding from us and ignoring us and we are not going to take it any more." Smithe said with his ( junior) partner of 8 years, Harris Park.
Park and Smithe have been living together for five years and ' would be married with kids, if this government took its head out of the sand."Park suggested.
The vocal supporters of marriage equality took the opportunity on the steps of Sydney's iconic Luna Park to get the Prime Minister's attention on an issue that has taken a backseat in Australian politics since Gillard assumed power last year.
She has made her opposition to gay marriage more than clear, encouraging many political observers to suggest that Gillard is posturing to the arch-conservative vote, emboldened by the growing influence of the Christian vote in Australia.
"I am here so there is a human face to the discrimination in the marriage act," said Nichelle Roma, 42 a single lesbian from Newtown. "I'm not crazy about marriage, but it's not the institution that bothers me, it's the ethic, and the ethic says we have as much right as anyone to get married."
Supporters waved placards and posters of couples and families affected by the ban on same-sex marriage while chanting "open your heart" as the Prime Minister's entourage arrived.
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