‘No’ mums hit back against bullying after ad against same-sex marriage airs and say they have been demonised for their views

MOTHERS featured in the “No” campaign against same-sex marriage say they have been “demonised” for defending their rights.

Heidi McIvor opposes same sex marriage. Picture: Supplied

THE mothers featured in the “No” campaign ad against same-sex marriage say they have been “demonised” for defending their rights.

Heidi McIvor, who is a pastor at City Builders Church in Sale, Victoria appeared in the TV ad for Coalition for Marriage, which aired on Tuesday.

“Kids in year seven are being asked to role play being in a same-sex relationship,” Ms McIvor says in the ad.

Ms McIvor’s comment has sparked a backlash, with Ms McIvor and her husband Julian McIvor also falsely accused of being behind a newspaper ad that appeared in The Gippsland Times and entitled “What is Marriage?”

The ad includes the line that: “When the wife’s egg is fertilised by the husband’s sperm in the marital act of love, a flash of light occurs and a baby is conceived. Nine months later, ‘their’ baby is born. It is not ‘hers’ and it is not ‘his’. They have created new life together.”

One Facebook user of the couple said: “Let’s burn there (sic) church”.

It later emerged the couple did not place the ad and Ms McIvor has condemned the reaction to her television appearance.

“I am perplexed that the response to this ad hasn’t been to verify our claims or research what is happening to education and parents’ rights overseas,” she said in a statement to news.com.au.

Heidi McIvor appeared in an ad opposing same-sex marriage. Picture: Supplied

“Instead it has been to delve into the personal and work lives of the women on this ad and use it to discredit us, demonising mothers for defending their rights.”

Another mother that appears in the ad, Dr Pansy Lai, has been identified as a paediatrician based in Sydney’s North Shore.

She’s emerged as the founder of the group Australian Chinese for Families Association that was originally created to oppose the Safe Schools initiative, but has evolved to campaign against same-sex marriage as well.

In the TV ad Dr Lai says: “when same-sex marriage passes as law overseas, this type of program become (sic) widespread and compulsory”.

After her appearance it emerged she has promoted conversion therapy and there have been calls for her to be investigated by the Australian Medical Association and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

But Dr Lai hit back at the claims, telling news.com.au: “I don’t “promote” gender conversion therapy. If people wish to do it they can, but I do not promote it to anyone”.

Details of Dr Lai’s workplace address have been published and she was sent a message that she should bring extra security to work.

In relation to the backlash, Dr Lai said: “I find it sad that everyday mums are being attacked for raising genuine concerns about the implications of redefining marriage”.

Dr Pansy Lai opposes Safe Schools

A Coalition for Marriage spokeswoman said the treatment the mums had received had become characteristic of the response of same-sex marriage advocates, “which is to bully, intimidate and even threaten anyone who disagrees into silence”.

“The only way to protect freedom of speech for everyone is to vote ‘no.’”

Another Coalition for Marriage spokeswoman Sophie York also released a message to ‘No’ supporters that said the Yes campaign had been “aggressively vilifying us” and trying to make them out as “bullies” and “bad guys” for opposing same-sex marriage.

“They sure screamed when our ad hit the air, and are still trying to knock our campaign as ‘rubbish’,” she said of the ad that aired on Tuesday.

“Yet it is THEIR campaign that was caught creating fake news. It is THEIR campaign that has been exposed for falsifying facts. And it is THEIR campaign for a ‘Yes’ vote that threatens to destroy our entire Aussie way of life.”

The Yes campaign: threatening to destroy our entire Aussie way of life! pic.twitter.com/E7rdoFfIkJ

— Lane Sainty (@lanesainty) August 31, 2017

But it’s not just the ‘No’ campaign copping criticism. A parody ad that aired on The Project and which skewers the ‘No’ ad, has also faced a backlash.

The video, which has been viewed more than 400,000 times drew a mixed reaction, with some applauding its humour and others calling it biased.

There have also been offensive flyers sent to homes in the Sydney suburb of Hurstville that said legalising gay marriage would allow rapists to pose as “transsexual women” in order to enter female toilets.

Equality Campaign executive director Tiernan Brady said he thought complaints about being silenced were one of the tactics the Coalition for Marriage was using to win the debate on same-sex marriage.

“There are two tactics the ‘No’ side has and neither of them have to do with marriage equality because they know they have already lost that argument,” he told news.com.au.

“First they mislead people and pretend the debate is about something else. Second, they pretend they’re not allowed to speak whereas they have a huge profile and are going to radically outspend us.”

He criticised the ‘No’ ad for linking gender education in the Safe Schools program with the issue of same-sex marriage.

But Mr Brady acknowledged there was no place for comments threatening people.

“There's no group of people who knows better what it feels like to be marginalised and to feel invisible than lesbian and gay people,” he said.

“That’s why we’re determined not to campaign in any other way than with respect.”

He said there would always be people on the edges of every debate saying unacceptable things on Twitter and Facebook.

“The important thing to remember is that they are unacceptable and they are not representative,” he said.

“I don’t believe the abusive tone and terrible posters that have gone up from activists on the ‘No’ side reflect the opinions of genuine ‘No’ voters, they are just people who have genuine questions about this,” he said.

Mr Brady said it was difficult for LGBTI people listening to the debate.

“This is about the dignity and the value of real Australians,” he said. “Tone matters because people have to listen to this debate that is about their value, as other people try to weigh their worth.”

Thankfully, Mr Brady thought the dominant tone of the campaign from the ‘Yes’ side had been unifying and one of respect and engagement.

“The day after marriage equality happens, we still have to share the same country,” he said.

“Having a respectful debate matters because we still have to live in the same space the next day.

“From a campaign point of view, we’re totally committed, that this has to be a campaign of respectful conversation, not of angry debate.

“This has to be and should be a unifying moment for the country.”