For those playing at home, let us tell you a little bit about Joshua Sasse.
Sasse, 29, is a British actor who was recently engaged to (national treasure) Kylie Minogue.
As previously reported by Woman’s Day, during their almost-two-year romance, the couple were passionate advocates for marriage equality and vowed not to wed until gay marriage was legal in Australia.
(In October last year, Sasse took to Sunrise to tell Australia that he and his pop princess fiancé wouldn’t exchange vows until every Australian can, too – no matter their gender.)
In fact, they were so passionate about pushing for social change that they created the “Say I Do Down Under” campaign in a bid to “legalise all love in this country”.
An almighty step in the right direction for same-sex marriage in Australia, if you ask us…
However, after a reportedly “heartbroken” Kylie, 48, broke off their engagement in February this year amid cheating allegations, just a week later, Sasse took a step away from the Say ‘I Do’ campaign he so earnestly barracked for, right here in Australia.
And it is this seemingly conveniently timed departure (sorry, Sasse, but c’mon) that has riled the internet up into frenzy, with people questioning the actor’s sincerity towards an important (albeit contentious for those who refuse to believe that same-sex marriage should be legalised) social issue.
Well, to this, Sasse has taken to Instagram to clear the air and silence his “haters”.
“Thought I’d take a second to silence those muppets out there who read the tabloids and believe a letter of it (which is as sensible as asking a toddler how to invest your money) the Say I Do campaign was a short run campaign to raise awareness,” he wrote (two months after parting ways with the campaign).
“We doubled our expected goal and raised nearly $15,000 for LGBTIQ [sic] charities in Oz.”
“Once the campaign we started closed we handed back the reigns to the wonderful Equality team in Oz we had partnered with and the fight continues.”
“If you believe in something fight for it – don’t listen to the ‘haters’ – there is enough hate in the world, focus on the love, focus on the positive.”
Don’t get us wrong: ANY awareness that works to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia should be applauded, because the fact that it is yet to be legalised is nothing short of a joke. And Sasse, during his short stint with the Say ‘I Do’ campaign, did work to do exactly that.
But if to “believe in something and fight for it” means stepping away from something just a few months after starting it, then Sasse, you’ve nailed it.
Support the LGBTQI community in their fight for marriage equality by visiting The Equality Campaign website: http://www.equalitycampaign.org.au.
