It’s a text message. Calm your farm.
Australians have taken to social media to claim they feel “violated” and “bullied” by text messages sent by the “Yes” campaign for same-sex marriage over the weekend.
Some have even claimed they’ll change their vote to “No” or abstain because of what they see as a privacy intrusion.
The texts were generated by randomised computer software and funded by grassroots yes organisation YesEquality.
They read: “The Marriage Equality Survey forms have arrived! Help make history and vote YES for a fairer Australia. VoteYes.org.au.”
One of the most striking – and disappointing – aspects of the marriage equality to date is how easily people appear able to change their minds about fundamental human rights because of some external, and ultimately irrelevant, action from the opposite side.
Whether you’re voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – your life has not been impacted by a text message. Or a t-shirt. Or a protest. Or a tweet. Or a discussion.
Show us on the doll where the SMS hurt you.
You either believe in the human rights of someone to marry the person they love or you don’t.
If your ethics and belief systems are so flimsy that you can flip your views on whether or not two people can get married on the basis of a short text message, you need to reassess the strength of your character.
One Facebook poster, Melissa Star from Melbourne, put it beautifully:
“To the person who said “I was going to vote yes before getting your annoying text message but will now vote no’ – are you really saying I should be denied the ability to get married and have a family because you got a text message on your phone?
Just how worthless do you think your fellow citizens are?”
Melissa went on to say she understood someone voting no because of their religious beliefs or because they simply hated gay men and women and wanted to hurt them. That, she suggests, at least is a defensible position. A hateful one, but a consistent one.
“But a text message?” she writes. “You’re an asshole. The inconvenience of you getting a single text message is not more important than the family life of another human being.”
The left may be a bunch of sentimental, crybaby snowflakes – with our bleeding-heart concerns for the rights of the oppressed, and our whining obsession with equality and peace.
But give us a little credit. We’re not chucking tanties over a text message.
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