Interracial marriage debate of the ‘50s has parallels with today’s SSM fight

SURE, it’s uncomfortable to be an opponent of marriage equality. It was probably the same for interracial marriage opponents too, Seb Starcevic points out.

Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton in Loving, the true story of an interracial marriage in 1950s America. This story has parallels with the current fight for marriage equality. (Pic: Supplied)

YOU’D think a gay man being publicly humiliated for daring to support marriage equality would be a cause for outrage.

Instead, 67-year-old Tony Overheu is being treated like some kind of folk hero for launching a lemon meringue pie, Anita Bryant-style, into the face of gay Qantas CEO Alan Joyce during a business breakfast in Perth last week.

Like other self-described supporters of ‘traditional marriage,’ Overheu was quick to claim victimhood, dropping the usual buzz words like “social engineering,” “corporate bullying” and “special interest groups” to defend his antics.

Some hailed the incident a righteous blow for the ‘one man, one woman’ camp. Here was proof that “middle Australia” — that mythical embattled underclass — would no longer be ignored by high-flying elites with their rainbow propaganda and Marxist school programs.

Because apparently the real victims of oppression aren’t the gay men fearing for their lives right now in Chechnya, where extrajudicial abductions and killings are reportedly rampant.

Nor is it those wondering if they’re going to lose their jobs and homes thanks to the Republican lawmaker who last week spiked an anti-discrimination bill for LGBTI people in the Missourian state legislature, arguing that homosexuals don’t qualify as “human beings.”

Blake Unsworth (left) and family members carry the coffin of his 12-year-old son Tyrone, who committed suicide after being the victim of homophobic bullying. (Pic: Jack Tran)

And let’s not forget the queer Australians facing higher-than-usual rates of self-harm, sexual violence, workplace harassment, mental illness and homelessness — and on top of all that having to worry about being ridiculed in a public forum in the basest of ways for merely advocating their right to marry. None of them are worth sparing a thought for.

Seriously, though, how have we gotten so turned around that the oppressors now see themselves as the oppressed?

Why are we being encouraged to side with the Australian Christian Lobby, who held an anti-LGBTI event in Melbourne last week and according to Managing Director Lyle Shelton, were met with “bullying and intimidation” from LGBTI protesters?

Shouldn’t our sympathies go to those behind the picket line who are directly affected by the ACL’s hateful rhetoric? Or the gay kids like Tyrone Unsworth bullied into an early grave thanks in part to this toxic agenda?

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce holds a press conference at Parliament House confirming he will press charges against the man who mashed a pie in his face during a speech at a business breakfast in Perth. (Pic: AAP/Mick Tsikas)

And since when are we so concerned about the odd disgruntled employee spitting the dummy over a harmless bit of corporate fluff, an innocent gesture of solidarity such as an acceptance ring being rolled out by companies like Qantas and ANZ?

Now, that’s not to say it isn’t uncomfortable to be an opponent of marriage equality in 2017.

It probably is.

But it was most likely uncomfortable to be an opponent of interracial marriage once upon a time, too. At some point, it should become socially unacceptable to not support marriage equality.

It’s often been said that when you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.

If progress stalled every time someone resisted a shift in the status quo, society would never collectively advance.

There’s also a lesser known saying that intolerance towards intolerance isn’t intolerance.

Dressing up your homophobia as support for ‘traditional marriage’ just means you’re coding your bigotry to disguise the fact that you don’t support equality for LGBTI people. You can’t have a finger in both pies, lemon meringue or otherwise.

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