Gay couple plead to PM for marriage equality after leukemia diagnosis

Gay couple plead to PM for marriage equality after leukemia diagnosis
Image: Rob Nay and partner Miguel. Image: Facebook / Rob Nay.

A SYDNEY man has written a heartfelt letter from his hospital bed to Malcolm Turnbull pleading for marriage equality.

Robert Nay was diagnosed with leukemia just last week, and said the sudden diagnosis made him think about mortality and his future with his partner Miguel Luciano, The Sydney Morning Herald has reported.

“For too long the rights of people like me have been juggled in what is a pathetic, political circus,” Nay wrote in an open letter to PM Turnbull.

“Now… you are authorising an archaic opinion poll intended for the ‘yes’ vote to fail.”

Nay called the upcoming postal vote “nothing but a farce” but swore the LGBTI community would prevail.

“If the postal vote does go ahead, it will not fail,” he wrote.

“We will not fail but I will not be able to say the same about you in your role as our nation’s leader.”

Nay suggested it was not too late for the postal vote—which is to be challenged in the High Court—to be cancelled.

“It’s time for marriage equality without a postal vote and the hate campaign it has already instigated,” he wrote.

“Let me and others respect you again by taking action. Let the country catch up the ground it has let slip on similar-minded nations.

“Let me expend my energy on the important fight of beating cancer rather than dealing with hurtful comments from those who cannot fathom the preposterous idea of people like me simply being equal.”

Nay’s partner Luciano, a nurse from the US, said he saw the current arguments against marriage equality aired in his country years ago, but they have now been forgotten about. He said marriage equality has not hurt the US.

“From my perspective, there has been an opening of more acceptance,” he said.

Nay’s doctors have told him his outlook is good with chemotherapy, but he said the diagnosis has put things into perspective for him.

“It made me more determined to fight for marriage equality, because I’ve got enough on my plate now as it is without having to worry about people judging or having their say about the validity of my relationship when they’ve got no place to do so,” he said.

“It also makes me appreciate the important things in your life. And for me nothing comes above my relationship with Miguel.”

Voters have only today to enrol or update their details to ensure they can vote in the postal poll for marriage equality.

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