Marriage TV campaign launched

Marriage TV campaign launched

Australian Marriage Equality and GetUp! launched a long-anticipated national television advertising campaign in support of marriage equality in Martin Place, Sydney on Monday morning.

Members of the public were treated to slices of a two-metre by two-metre wedding cake and entertained by Maxi Shield and a troupe of Lady Gaga impersonators before the commercial was screened.

The commercial features identical twins, David and Paul Battye, who talk about similarities in their lives.

David explains that there was no question that anyone but his brother would be his best man at his wedding, while Paul talks about having found a partner with whom he shares the same kind of commitment that David has with his wife.

“I can get married, but Paul can’t,” David explains.

“Who you love should have nothing to do with that — it shouldn’t matter.”

GetUp! members, supportive members of the general public and members of the GLBTI community will be asked to donate $25 or more so it can be aired on commercial television.

Want to donate: Click HERE

GetUp! national director Simon Sheikh told the Star Observer the campaign would continue for as long as there was money to fund it.

“We’re prepared to run this advertising campaign right up until the moment where this campaign is won,” Sheikh said. “It’s not our intention to do a short campaign for just the next few weeks — we’re in this for the long haul.”

GetUp! uses an ‘opt-in’ model where members choose the campaigns they support, meaning donations towards the ad will go to it alone.

Straight brother David Battye told the Star Observer he had not thought about how the marriage ban affected his brother in the past because it didn’t affect him personally.

“It wasn’t until I was given the opportunity to get involved in this that I started to reflect on what it meant for Paul not to have the same opportunities that I had in relation to getting married.”

He said it was possible some people in the wider community misunderstood why same-sex couples wanted to get married.

“But from what I’ve seen lately, I think more of the population actually supports the notion of equality in marriage.”

AME national convenor Alex Greenwich said the campaign highlighted that gay and straight Australians shared the same lives and aspirations and should not be treated differently by the law.

“It’s time for our politicians to recognise this fact by removing the discrimination and exclusion entrenched in the Marriage Act,” Greenwich said.

“It’s time to reinforce the values of love and commitment that underlie marriage by allowing all loving committed couples to marry.”

COMMENT: Tell us what you think of the advertisement below.


You May Also Like

2 responses to “Marriage TV campaign launched”

  1. It was a real pleasure providing the cake for this event. Your picture section on the event has 7 pictures of it but only the photographer gets the credit :( …so I want to publicly thank the two people who took 4 very long days to complete this huge 2m x 2m cake and also AME and Get Up for a great campaign on the GLBT community’s behalf.