Andrew Bolt: Gay marriage debate won’t end well
IF THE court bid to stop the marriage equality plebiscite succeeds, politicians could get a roasting they won’t forget, writes Andrew Bolt.
Andrew Bolt
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ACTIVISTS might still win their their High Court bid to stop Australians from voting in a same-sex marriage plebiscite.
But stopping the October plebiscite — after all the other outrageous bullying by gay-marriage activists — may cause an explosion that politicians on both sides will regret.
I don’t just mean the Turnbull Government will be embarrassed should the High Court rule its plebiscite unlawful, since parliament never approved spending the $122 million it costs.
HIGH COURT DECISION ON GAY MARRIAGE POSTAL VOTE DUE THURSDAY
That could tempt PM Malcolm Turnbull into breaking his promise of a people’s vote to legalise same-sex marriage.
He tried his best, he could argue, so let’s end all this argument with a vote in parliament. Turnbull might once have got away with that, counting on voters getting sick of the carry-on, but that’s less likely now the Yes campaign has been such a disaster.
True, polls still show most voters back same-sex marriage, but it’s also clear many loathe the bullying by Yes activists.
ANDREW BOLT:
TRUTH THE FIRST CASUALTY OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BULLIES
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE FIGHT’S UGLY TRUTH
UNTRUTHS THE POSTER CHILD FOR UGLY CAMPAIGN
They’ve seen violent demonstrations even against tennis great Margaret Court. Three Christian preachers were dragged to a tribunal, and the Australian Christian Lobby HQ was hit by a car bomb.
Then there’s the abuse of power.
The supposedly impartial ABC crusades for a Yes vote and so has the AMA, without asking its members and after falsely claiming studies didn’t show children of same-sex parents tended to struggle.
More than 620 doctors have signed a protest against the AMA’s tactics. Most dramatically, three women starring in the No campaign ad have been threatened and abused, with GetUp! hosting a petition demanding the AMA consider stripping one, Dr Pansy Lai, of her right to work as a doctor.
That caused huge outrage, and key figures behind the No campaign now think polls may over-estimate support for gay marriage.
They suspect many people are too scared to admit how they’ll really vote, which may explain the overwhelming support for a plebiscite.
But if the plebiscite is now stopped, it will seem part of the campaign to shut people up and just when the bullies looked like losing.
Many Australians, especially Liberals, won’t stand for it. There is already huge cynicism about a political class lording it over the rest and that will get worse.
Some, disillusioned and robbed of a vote, may even become as extreme as those bullying them. This can’t end well.
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