The Silencing of Debate by Same-sex Marriage Activists in Australia, by David Crowe in September 2016.

A ferocious campaign against Christian groups planning to meet on same-sex marriage has forced them to cancel the event at a major hotel next week, amid claims of physical threats from marriage-equality advocates.

The Accor Hotels group confirmed late yesterday that the function had been abandoned after a social media storm triggered phone calls that “rattled” employees and left the company concerned about the safety of staff and guests.

In the first test of the “civil” debate promised for a plebiscite on gay marriage, advocates for the “yes” case were being blamed last night for the kind of “hate speech” that Bill Shorten and others have claimed would come from the “no” case.

A Submission to the Select Senate Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill, by Augusto Zimmermann.

It appears that anyone who supports traditional marriage is being
called a ‘bigot’ and a ‘homophobe’. Labor leader Bill Shorten has called them ‘haters’. This is despite the fact that the current law says that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

Regrettably, any reasonable discussion about marriage may be met with offence and vilification. For instance, a meeting by four major Christian groups (Sydney Anglicans, the Sydney Catholics, Marriage Alliance and the Australian Christian Lobby) at the Mercure
Hotel at Sydney Airport had to be cancelled after a social media storm trigged phone calls that “rattled” employers and left the hotel concerned about the safety of staff and guests.

Those groups simply wished to discuss the campaign to oppose any change to the Marriage Act. This was the mildest of meetings, not a public rally.

Unfortunately, however, radical activists appear to believe that anyone who does not entirely support their “progressive” cause is to be hated, humiliated, and intimidated. Such activists
phoned the Mercure Hotel and intimidated staff, including making physical threats. So much for tolerance…

Interestingly enough, supporters of same-sex marriage often claim a debate on the topic will unleash the haters. …

Christian commentator Bill Muehlenberg points out the irony: “The group that shouts the most about tolerance is the least tolerant… The group that shouts the most about bigotry is the most bigoted… The group that shouts the most about hate is the most hateful.”