Someone dumped dog poo on a Yes-supporting Sydney couple’s doorstep
Image: Image: Facebook
In a rather on-the-nose metaphor for the postal survey being forced upon us, a Sydney couple say they found a bag of dog poo on their doorstep as a result of displaying their support for marriage equality.
Harley Stumm and his partner Fiona Winning also had their rainbow letterbox bearing the word ‘Yes’ defaced twice.
The couple told The Age that they believe others in the area are now afraid of showing their support for the Yes campaign.
The couple have lived in the Redfern and Waterloo area for 20 years and bought the letterbox from artist Mickey Quick.
Quick replaced the original for free after someone spray-painted an almost illegible black ‘No’ on it, but the replacement has since been knocked out of place.
Stumm said a neighbour had left a note saying she was too afraid to show her support given the vandalism.
“She put a handwritten note in our letterbox, saying thank you for making the statement we have,” he said.
“It said: ‘I bought a rainbow flag. I would have loved to put up but I am too afraid. I am a single mother with a young child and I don’t want to.’
“That little spray painting of the letterbox has intimidated someone from expressing what they intended to.
“It’s having an effect. It’s pretty clear that the unnecessary plebiscite will result in a ‘yes’ vote so we are going through this for nothing.”
A Uniting Church in the area has also had the rainbow flag it has on display cut down twice in the last three weeks.
“We will keep replacing it if it comes down again,” said South Sydney Uniting Church minister the Reverend Andrew Collins.
“We are not sure if this is a more deliberate statement against the campaign or just someone playing games but, given it’s happened twice, I seem to think it isn’t just someone playing around.”
Stumm said that the incident has nevertheless had a positive effect, with an older neighbour telling them that while she hadn’t received her form yet, she wanted to vote yes.
Winning and Stumm have since put a sign on display next to the letterbox encouraging people to knock on their door and have a conversation rather than deface their letterbox.
