The ‘no’ campaign is trying to bait us into fighting: Tiernan Brady

The ‘no’ campaign is trying to bait us into fighting: Tiernan Brady
Image: Photo: Facebook / Tiernan Brady.

As the marriage debate continues and anti-LGBTI violence appears to increase, marriage equality advocates are urging the community to stay positive.

Tiernan Brady from the Equality Campaign said the no campaign has been trying to bait the community into fighting, by equating same-sex marriage with everything from incest to polygamy.

“I think they’re just getting more and more outraged that we’re not getting outraged,” he said.

“LGBTI people haven’t taken the bait. Negative gives us nothing.

“The no side’s job has been to try and mislead the public, because they know the Australian public are for us. It’s been a red herring a day, and our job has been to never run down those rabbit holes, because that’s where the no side want us.

“They aim to provoke us, so that change suddenly looks scary. What’s really amazing, and LGBTI people should feel so good about this, is LGBTI people haven’t taken the bait.”

Brady said the yes campaign must remain focused on delivering a positive message without buying into the no campaign’s tactics.

“The most important thing that we have to do is remember the strategy that has got us to this point,” he said.

“We have always been about respectful conversations, and continue to be determined that it’s not about angry debates. That strategy will not change.

“We will not, under any circumstances, be tempted to go negative, because that’s not the journey to equality that LGBTI people need. We all have to share the country the next day.”

Brady raised concerns about people living in regional areas and the impact the debate could be having on their wellbeing.

“It’s all fine for us living in inner-city Melbourne or Sydney, but if you’re a young gay person in Broken Hill or Shepparton, the impact of the tone that the national campaign has set is far more important,” he said.

He said the yes vote is on course to win, but cautioned that there is no room for complacency.

“We know that marriage equality is a fabulous idea. We know that marriage equality will unite the country, and it will include for the first time a group of people who have not been included before, and that is good for everybody,” Brady said.

“[Positivity] has always been our strategy, and it will continue to be.”

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3 responses to “The ‘no’ campaign is trying to bait us into fighting: Tiernan Brady”

  1. The hypocrisy of the No campaign is astonishing. The same mob who spent days whining about Benjamin Law’s (admittedly pretty stupid) tweet can happily ignore all of the shit their own team is throwing at same sex couples and non-traditional marriages. The same mob who spent days whining about a subcontractor having one private sector contract terminated happily ignore the Catholic Church’s threat to sack hundreds of gay aged care workers, nurses and teachers in Catholic-affiliated organisations (eg Southern Cross Aged Care, catholic schools) which are taxpayer funded. The same mob who whine about their privacy being invaded because their phone received a text actually feel entitled to trample on the privacy of same sex couples by insisting that they have the right to say who can and can’t get married.

    If this campaign returns a No vote, it won’t be by much and it will have no legitimacy. But that won’t stop these hypocritical arseholes from claiming it does.

  2. The violence is mostly on the YES side: the head-butting of Tony Abbott, the lynch mobs at University of Sidney and University of Queensland and the petition to de-register Doctor Pansy Lau,

    • Wow, way to ignore the swastikas drawn on rainbow flags and the physical assault on Alan Joyce.

      And pray tell who got lynched at Sidney University? Even Sydney University? You used the word lynched, it has a meaning, tell us the detail.

      Or just admit you’re full of lies.