‘I Do’ campaign attracts hundreds

Hundreds of marriage equality supporters joined live broadcasts from Sydney and Melbourne this morning as fashion magazine Marie Claire threw its support behind the cause.

Local celebrities showed their support at the events as the Channel 7 Sunrise breakfast show spent the morning crossing live to the two cities.

At the Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne CBD, fashion designer Alex Perry, actor Magda Szubanksi, So You Think You Can Dance judge Jason Coleman and other celebrities braved the cold weather to show their support.

At least 100 people huddled in the mall while free ‘I Do’ T-shirts were signed and rainbow muffins handed out.

“We live in a country where it’s a democracy and everyone should have the same human rights. I think it’s a human rights issue and why can’t I get married when a psychopath can,” Szubanski told Sunrise.

At the Sydney event, held outside the Channel 7 studios in Martin Place, celebrities including singer Brian McFadden, TV personality Charlotte Dawson and actress Rachael Taylor mingled with a crowd of several hundred marriage equality supporters.

The chanting crowd of about 200 people far outnumbered the small handful of protestors carrying signs emblazoned with messages including ‘Shame Channel 7 shame’ and ‘Children need a mother and father’ — not to mention the somewhat perplexing ‘Husband + wife = life’.

Taylor and McFadden explained to Sunrise why they’d lent their voices to the cause.

“What I love about the campaign is it’s fighting for equal marriage rights in a very positive way. This is not a ‘gay’ issue, it’s about everyone in Australia having the right to get married the same as everybody else,” Taylor said.

“It has to happen. This is Australia, one of the most forward-thinking countries in the world,” Irish expatriate McFadden continued.

Inside the studios, former AMA president Dr Kerryn Phelps and the Australian Christian Lobby’s Jim Wallace engaged in a heated debate, with Wallace opening his argument by comparing those behind the ‘I Do’ campaign to Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany.