The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has received a lot of feedback about his failure to deliver marriage equality in Australia after he posted a Valentine’s Day message to his Facebook page.
Mr Turnbull posted a photo of himself and wife Lucy in their younger days and revealed that when he first proposed his wife had suggested that they should wait until they grew up.
“When I first asked Lucy to marry me she said, ‘Let’s wait until we grow up.’ Well we didn’t wait long and now it is almost impossible to imagine, let alone remember, what it was like not to be together, so much so that I have a much clearer sense of ‘Lucy and me’ than I do of ‘me’.” Mr Turnbull shared.
Many Australians were quick to highlight that they were not satisfied with the amount of time same sex couples have had to wait for marriage equality under progressive governments.
Tomas Allan Leaumont was one of the first to respond highlighting that he is unable to marry his partner of ten years. The comment attracted thousands of likes on Facebook and lead to hundreds of comments, mostly in favour of marriage equality.
The PM’s Valentine’s Day message has attracted over 32,000 likes and over 1,400 comments.
A tiny selection of the responses is presented below. Many people also congratulated the Prime Minister on his marriage which began in 1980.
i have been with my partner 12 years… i would love the day I can marry her and tell everyone she is my WIFE… Hate politicians who break their PROMISE
Yes. I haven’t had to wait until I grow up, I’ve had to wait until I grow OLD and then some. I think, considering Malcolm’s inaction on this, his post was tasteless. What will be his excuse, there are no “marriage smugglers” to give satisfaction to. Oh I’ve been living in a “marriage-like but unequal” relationship for nearly 30 years. That’s what?? About 4-5 times the average length of an odd gendered relationship and three times the sustainability of the average parliamentarian’s. Oops!