Unless you’ve been avoiding all news and social media this week (we wouldn’t blame you), you’ve definitely heard Tony Abbott and his cronies ranting about ~~stopping discrimination~~ an artist playing one of his hits during the NRL final.
International sensation Macklemore received the honour of playing the half-time show on Sunday and he’ll be playing his song Same Love. Not to make a political statement, although I’m sure that hasn’t hurt, but because the song went number one in Australia in 2013.
In the US, the song was his worst performing track but in Australia it not only went to number one, but went four times platinum. Not performing Same Love would be a glaring omission that would certainly politicise the game more than if he just sang it, but would the no camp be okay with that kind of politics in sport?
Yes Tony “we’ve got to allow people to say things that are unsayable in polite company” Abbott, tell us more about how politics should not be involved in sport.
I’m sure many agree.
Macklemore’s response to the backlash was exactly what you’d expect.
“I’m getting a lot of tweets from angry old white dudes in Australia. Today I think there is a petition to ban me from playing,” he said.
“I’m gonna go harder.”
Much like many of the ‘No’ campaign arguments, this one doesn’t hold much stock when put under any kind of scrutiny. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look
“Politics doesn’t belong in sport.”
In 1993, we still hadn’t apologised to Indigenous Australians for the stolen generation and aboriginals were facing persistent racism.
After Collingwood supporters hurled racist slurs at Nicky Winmar for the entirety of their game against St Kilda, Winmar celebrated his team’s win by pointing to the colour of his skin and said, “I’m black – and I’m proud to be black!”
Good time for politics to be involved in sport, no?
Or when athletes refused to tour apartheid South Africa? Or the iconic image of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, next to an Australian, raising their hands in a Black Power salute?
Last year, Cold Chisel played Khe Sanh at the halftime show – a song criticising the effect of the Vietnam War – and Beyonce performed at the Super Bowl half time dressed in a Black Panther uniform doing a Black Power salute. I think it’s safe to say politics has always, and will always, belong firmly in sport.
WATCH: Beyonce perform her black anthem, Formation.
“This is about freedom of speech.”
The people on the ‘No’ side love to talk about free speech. Lyle Shelton frames the survey as a “referendum on free speech”; Tony thinks you should vote no so you don’t lose it; and Cory Bernadi warns it’s under attack by same-sex marriage.
But that’s only for speech that they agree with. An artist singing his popular hit? Absolutely not – get that man off the field ASAP.
The importance certain Liberal backbenchers put on repealing 18C so they could harass people based on their “race, colour or national or ethnic origin” without reprieve would make you think they’d be all for yes campaigners making their voice heard, but here we are.
Peter Dutton is famously a fan of free speech and today he weighed in on the “controversy”.
These are real words that he said. A Christian rapper actually has released an anti same-sex song rapped over the Same Love beat if you’re interested – he probably won’t perform though on account of him not being a famous singer who’s literally just trying to do his job.
“It will impact religious freedoms.”
In a clever move, conservative Christians harp on about how their religious freedoms will be affected by marriage equality and paint themselves as potential victims of discrimination. Kind of like the discrimination felt by gay people when being gay was criminalised, or not being able to access the same federal government entitlements as straight people.
Many defenders of protecting religious freedom, like Cory Bernadi, in the same breath call to ban the burqa – a symbol of religious devotion.
In fact, Bernady says it was “abject cowardice” among politicians that prevent them from taking away someone’s religious freedom. So it seems he’s referring purely to Christianity when he says “religious”.
“They’ll make our sons wear dresses.”
One lady complained her son could wear a dress if he so desired – quelle horreur!
Dressing your sons up as cops and robbers does not a thief make and .
Also, Cory, who cracked it about “gender morphing” when a school hosted ‘wear a dress day’, has a huge photo of Dame Edna in his house – do you want to tell him or should I?
“We don’t want to talk about same-sex marriage all the time.”
Lyle Shelton, who heads a group which was created purely talk about same-sex marriage, doesn’t want to be “force-fed LGBTIQ messages” all the time.
You know who else doesn’t want to talk about marriage equality all the time? The gay people who have to endure aspersions on their character because politicians couldn’t do their job.
Many no campaigners were triggered when they received an unsolicited text urging Australians to vote yes.
Some said they would have voted yes but would now vote no thanks to message. I presume those people have also boycotted all food after Dominoes sent them an unsolicited discount voucher via text.
Bernadi – I know I keep bringing him up but he’s so contradictory in everything he says – deemed the texts “invasive”, but will be nonetheless launching a $50,000 anti same-sex marriage robocall campaign.
“My religion says gay marriage is wrong.”
A lot of religions do say this, you’re right.
However, in Christianity at least, it says a lot of stuff. According to Leviticus 19:19, you can’t wear clothes made of two kinds of material mixed together (aka polyester) or eat prawns and lobster.
Robyn J Whitaker, a lecturer in Biblical Studies at Trinity College, said homosexuality isn’t really that big a deal in the bible, paling in comparison to overarching themes of fair treatment of foreigners and strangers.
“The Bible offers a wide variety of marriage arrangements, many of which we no longer condone. It never condemns same-sex marriage, partly because it simply does not address the issue directly,” he writes.
“It does, however, give us an ethic to guide how we treat one another: an ethic based upon God’s generous love and a profound concern for justice.”
