Australian broadcasters air anti marriage equality advert
By Ryan Love
Austalian broadcasters Channel 7 and Channel Nine have been criticised for airing an advertisement against marriage equality.
The Australian Marriage Forum’s advert was shown at the same time Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade was taking place.
The advert asks for people to consider “equality for kids”, arguing that gay marriage “forces a child to miss out on a mother or a father”.
GP Dr David van Gend, who appears in the footage, adds: “That’s not equality for the kids who miss out. That’s not marriage.”
The video has previously been uploaded to YouTube, calling for donations to enable it to be aired on TV.
A spokesperson for Channel Nine told Buzzfeed that the advert was not currently scheduled to run for a second time.
Australia’s The Sunday Telegraph revealed that SBS was originally set to the air it during Mardis Gras coverage, but changed plans on Friday.
The Sunday Telegraph has today reported that the advertisement was booked and set to air on SBS during the Mardi Gras broadcast before the public broadcaster changed its mind on Friday.
SBS State Manager Nick Beloff is said to have told the Australian Marriage Forum in an email that he had “unfortunately been instructed to advise you that we choose not to run this TVC for the Marriage Forum during the Mardi Gras telecast”.