GetUp calls time on equality

GetUp calls time on equality

Grassroots lobby group GetUp! has today released a new promotional video for marriage equality that has left the Star Observer team a little misty eyed.

Borrowing from a political slogan of yesteryear the ‘It’s time’ clip pretty much says all that needs to be said about the need for marriage equality in Australia.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

GetUp! are also now calling for donations to put the video out as a TV commercial in the lead up to the ALP national conference and have already raised close to $35,000.

The video has already been viewed nearly a million and a half times on YouTube and has attracted praise from marriage equality supporters the world over.

Donations can be made via www.getup.org.au/campaigns/marriage-equality/love-story/watch-the-video

The video comes as Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced she has postponed a dinner she pledged to have with the progressive activist group and same-sex couples who want to be married into 2012 – well after the ALP National Conference where the issue of same-sex marriage will be debated.

You can sign a GetUp petition at www.getup.org.au to lend your support for change.

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14 responses to “GetUp calls time on equality”

  1. This video is awesome.

    It fills me with pride and reminds me of all the wonderful moments I have shared with significant others in the past.

    Some fantastic comments above. Getup needs our support and encouragement so i hope people like Craig above can see the massive positive impact this video will have for the marriage equality debate. In 1 min 30 you just cant represent everyone and the video is talking to the everyday person, so they have absolutely hit their target audience.

    I would love SSO to do a story of the boys in the video – he deserves a medal for his performance – its heart warming.

    NOW – I hope everyone is emailing their MPs, attending the Rally on 3 December and dragging their family and friends alone. Oh and we need to donate even small amounts to Getup to get this ad on TV.

    Best wishes to all

  2. Thank you GetUp for an amazing video, which is touching, thought provoking and representative of my 11 year relationship with my partner.

    I think the video achieves its purpose of continuing the political and social movement towards marriage equality. Also, the video portrays a white, middle-class, heterocentric view of LGBTIQ relationships.

    Three year olds make a cognitive error that allows them only to view things as equal when those objects look the same. Unfortunately it appears this is how collective political consciousness also operates. Feminism has been facing this issue for a very long time (i.e.: that equality must equal sameness).

    It is astute of GetUp to realise this sad fact, and highlights the difficulties of campaigning for rights. I hear they are making more videos, and I look forward to the greater diversity I’m sure they’ll show.

  3. When Qantas CEO grounded all Qantas flights PM Julia Gillard rush to have QF airplanes back in the sky. What would happen if Mardi Gras CEO would ground the event till gay marriage is available in Australia. Will the economy with the real possibility to loose hundreds of millions of dollars just look or push forward in high speed to have this law done. Its time to fight for rights and stop dancing!

  4. A great advert, and I hope that GetUp raises sufficient funds to be able to air it on TV. The YouTube video is trending as “the most watched”, and the campaign is getting praise from around the world.

    And yes, it made me tear up at the end!

    (@Craig .. get over yourself. One advert cannot, as much as anyone may want to, represent everyone in the alphabetical soup that is the Gay and Lesbian community. The video represents a gay couple doing what any straight couple does, and going through the same emotions, the same events – demonstrating that gays and lesbians are just the same as anyone else, we’re not evil demons)

  5. gr8wht – you nailed it, as has almost everyone else. A beautiful ad that actually portrays people like me as normal human beings – even if it doesn’t change the law, it made me feel good about myself. I’ve gotten so used to feeling like a second class citizen, that little things like this ad are needed to remind me that i’m not, and I shouldn’t be treated that way. Even better, all my straight friends are posting on facebook about how much they love it!

  6. As a gay Australian guy this advert really did tug on a few heart strings… arrrgggh who am I kidding, it made my heart swell with love. There is no feeling in the world like having your soulmate’s eyes lock with yours in a shared moment – just like Paul’s do with his boyfriend on the beach. No authority, organisation or government that exists on this planet has any place legislating to hold this back… and even if they want to, millions of years of human existence tell us that they will surely fail.

  7. This piece may not have represented everyone in the GLBTI spectrum- nor did it aim to. I think more importantly it represented a young gay man that was accepted and loved within his family and displayed the couple in everyday activities that people outside the gay niche could identify with, and one that those within the community wouldn’t revile. As a gay man I am tired of the perpetuated image of promiscuity, drug taking and inability to commit to a relationship for longer than three weeks.

  8. This is a brilliant advert! It effectively conveys the message that there are no differences between heterosexual and homosexual relationships, both of which contain numerous highs and occassional lows. The choice of actors is irreleevant Craig, try to see past aesthetics and focus on the stuff that matters… Brilliant ad campaign- hats off to all involved, hopefully it will have the desired effect.

  9. It plays on the ordinary.
    And in times of deep emotional crisis, virulent hatred and bigoted emotions as we’ve seen whipped up from the right and christians it is a real everyday panorama of shopping, holidays, jobs family events that don’t change.
    Its totally appropriate and on message.
    Everyone deserves the pursuit of happiness, some of us just happen to be gay.
    Marriage inequality is out n out discrimination thats passed it’s used by date.

  10. It is clear by the format and aesthetic of this “commercial” that Getup have utilised a style of advertising often aimed at young hetrosexuals, in an effort to appeal to the broader Australian community and add to the impact as the surprise ending is revealed. In doing so they have also further reinforced gay male stereotypes and excluded anyone in the GLBTI community who is not male, white, young, middle class, slim and attractive.
    It should have been possible to represent a broader spectrum of our community without diminishing the impact of the film and as a result, to have produced are far more positive and constructive poduct.
    I applaud Getup for their work, but I am dissapointed by this piece.