Threats over traditional marriage stance in Australia, by Rebecca Urban.

The family of a Victorian woman who fronts a national TV campaign opposing same-sex marriage has been vilified on ­social media and their church threatened with violence after LGBTI ­activists falsely claimed they were behind an ad in the local newspaper critical of homosexuality.

Heidi McIvor, her husband ­Julian McIvor and the City Builders Church in Sale, where they both work as pastors, have been subjected to false accusations and insults over an unattributed ad in The Gippsland Times a week ago urging people to vote against changing the Marriage Act.

Ms McIvor did not pay for the ad to be placed. Nor did Mr ­McIvor, who is also the advertising manager at the local paper. The church has previously campaigned for traditional marriage.

The parents of two have been accused of spreading hate speech and being morally bankrupt. Their names and phone numbers have been splashed all over Facebook, resulting in Mr McIvor being hit with a steady stream of abuse.

hat-tip Stephen Neil