A new voice has been added to Australia’s gay marriage debate in the form of U.S. rapper Macklemore – and not everyone is happy with his intervention.
The singer has been booked to appear on Sunday at a major end-of-season rugby match in Sydney and promised to perform his 2013 hit equality anthem “Same Love” before 85,000-plus fans.
However, with Australia in the middle of a vigorous two-month debate over the legalisation of same-sex marriage, opponents want “Same Love” censored or dropped altogether.
One Australian politician has already said the move “besmirched” the game and “it’s tantamount to seeping sewage into a debutante ball.” North Queensland Member of Parliament Bob Katter then added:
They said of the Americans during the war that there were three problems with them: oversexed, overpaid and over here.
Well, this little bloke, Macklemore, or whatever his name is, is coming over here. Well mate, go home, we don’t want you here.
The people that will be there at this game don’t want you.
Benjamin Haggerty, whose stage name is Macklemore, told Los Angeles Radio KPWR before flying Down Under that he was aware of the controversy but had no intention of changing his playlist to accommodate his critics.
“It’s interesting actually because I’m playing ‘Same Love’ and they’re going through right now trying to legalize same-sex marriage in Australia, so I’m getting a lot of tweets from angry, old white dudes in Australia,” Macklemore said.
“I think there was a petition today to ban me from playing,” he added. “I’m gonna go harder.”
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a gay marriage opponent, tweeted that rugby fans should not be subjected to a politicized event that is the Australian equivalent of the NFL Superbowl.
“Everyone has a right to express their opinion. The opinion that I expressed yesterday was that the NRL had made a poor call in doing what they did,” Abbott told reporters when he explained his position.
Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton joined Mr. Abbott in calling out sporting organizers for trying to politize their events, saying organizers of Sunday’s big rugby match needed to get a “backbone” and stand up to political correctness.
“My kids love the footy and I want to take my boys to watch the footy and I don’t want the betting ads jammed down their throat,” he told Sydney radio 2GB.
“I don’t want the gay marriage message jammed down their throat at the football.”
As Breitbart News has reported, the ballot in Australia to decide whether or not same-sex marriage should be allowed is closer than originally predicted.
One poll, conducted between late August and early September, showed that 58.4 percent of those surveyed supported a “yes” vote, down six percentage points from just two weeks earlier.
The ballot outcome will be announced Nov. 15.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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