Same-sex marriage scandal: job lost over No vote, by Joe Kelly.
A Christian teenager who was “fired” from a children’s party business in Canberra has defended her right to speak out in support of traditional marriage after being accused of homophobia and hate speech.
Madeline, 18, last night told The Australian she had worked two shifts for Capital Kids Parties. She volunteered her time on Sunday morning for her final shift at an Alzheimer’s and dementia fundraiser.
On Sunday night, Madeline received a message from business owner Madlin Sims saying she was being “let go” because she was opposed to same-sex marriage.
The Canberra teenager had posted a filter on her Facebook profile picture saying “It’s OK to vote No”. … Madeline said the Facebook filter she used to support the No campaign was in line with her religious views, and confirmed she had not publicly posted on the issue. ….
After messaging Madeline, Ms Sims posted on her own Facebook page that she had “fired a staff member who made it public knowledge that they feel ‘it’s okay to vote no’ ”.
“Advertising your desire to vote no for SSM is, in my eyes, hate speech,” Ms Sims wrote.
“Voting no is homophobic. Advertising your homophobia is hate speech.
“As a business owner I can’t have somebody who publicly represents my business posting hate speech online.”
Ms Sims published another Facebook comment yesterday clarifying that the person she had “fired” was a contractor and suggested that she could not risk letting that person work around young children because she might pass on her views.
“I stand by my decision to let go of this contractor,” Ms Sims declared.
“She was let go because her actions showed she is extremely out & proud about her views on homosexuals and as someone who, as I said before, has an (sic) responsibility to the vulnerable people we work with, could not risk her voicing those opinions to any children of ours.” …
In the current political climate, it has become acceptable for bosses to fire workers for privately held views that the left deem as “hate speech.”
Will this intensify if the gay marriage votes passes, or will it recede? Tough question…
Madeline denies being an evil blasphemer, but to no avail:
Madeline said she worked as a nanny and was trusted by people to look after their children, strongly rejecting claims she was homophobic. …
“I haven’t discriminated against anyone.
“When it comes to tolerance, I find that people who are religious, we have to tolerate everything and anything thrown at us. But other people don’t have to tolerate Christians.”
The boss admits her bigotry, but is proud of it:
Ms Sims yesterday told the ABC’s Hack that she stood by her decision to “let go” Madeline, suggesting she was taking “damage control before it happened” despite no parents complaining about the issue. Ms Sims said it was “homophobic” to vote No in the postal survey, but conceded her decision to stop employing Madeline was “bigoted”.
“What I did was bigoted,” she said. “But is it worse for me to be a bigot fighting for the rights of homosexuals or is it worse for her being a bigot telling people they can’t have equality?”
Racists, sexists, bigots, people of prejudice — all have reasons for their prejudice, and are usually proud to tell you why they discriminate.
hat-tip Stephen Neil
