Australia Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has slammed a new TV advertisement by opponents of same‑sex marriage as "total rubbish" licensed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The Coalition for Marriage's debut TV ad, which is due to air on commercial networks from Tuesday night, links marriage equality to sex education at schools.
It claims that in countries which have legalised same‑sex marriage, "parents have lost their rights to choose", and features an unidentified woman who says her son was told "he could wear a dress" to school.
The ad, which has been uploaded to YouTube and was authorised by Sophie York of the Marriage Alliance, does not directly address the question of whether same‑sex couples should be able to marry.
Shorten said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had given hurtful messages the green light.
But it features another unidentified woman who claims: "When same‑sex marriage passes as law overseas, this type of [school] program becomes widespread and compulsory."
Shorten said the ad was "offensive and hurtful to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex Australians and their families”.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
