Same-sex marriage scandal: job lost over No vote

A Christian teen who lost her job over No vote has defended her right to speak on marriage after being accused of hate speech.

Madeline, above, was let go by employer Madlin Sims, inset, over her position on marriage.

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”.

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Madeline, who did not want her surname published, said she was promptly blocked by Ms Sims after receiving the message, arguing that it “hurt quite a lot” to be dumped as a children’s entertainer with the company.

“I am a Christian; I have been raised that way,” Madeline told The Australian.

“I’ve never been the kind of person who is afraid to stand up for their belief.”

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.” Responding to the claims against her, Madeline said she would consider her legal options but was not committed to pursuing them.

Institute for Civil Society executive director Mark Sneddon said religious conviction was a “protected attribute” under ACT discrimination law.

“So if someone sacks you or acts detrimentally to you on the basis of your religious conviction then you could take an anti-­discrimination complaint against them,” Mr Sneddon said.

Pointing to the same-sex marriage postal survey safeguards passed in parliament last week, Mr Sneddon suggested that general threats not to employ someone based on how they were planning to vote in the postal survey could possibly be a breach of the anti-vilification provisions.

Madeline said she worked as a nanny and was trusted by people to look after their children, strongly rejecting claims she was homophobic.

“I have plenty of homosexual friends and family who I love very dearly.

“And some of them are Christians but when it comes to marriage, the Bible says it’s very clear,” Madeline said.

“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.”

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.

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?”

ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja, a conservative who supports traditional marriage, said the decision not to give work to an individual because of how they were planning to vote in the postal survey was “disgusting”.

Senator Seselja said if people were losing work because they intended to vote against same-sex marriage, it validated concerns from those on the No campaign that free speech could be imperilled in the event of a Yes vote.

“It’s just more intolerance and bigotry levelled against those people who believe in traditional marriage,” Senator Seselja said. “It should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

The Australian made attempts to contact Ms Sims yesterday.