Graham Norton is ‘baffled’ by Australia’s reluctance to legalise same-sex marriage
By Will Stroude
It’s almost certain that the fight for equal marriage in Australia will be settled with a public vote on the matter – a move which pro-LGBT politicians and groups have slammed due to fears it will invite homophobic debate.
A number of famous faces, such as Kylie Minogue and fiancé Joshua Sasse, have come out in support of same-sex marriage. Now, they’ve been joined by Eurovision commentator Graham Norton, who has also slammed the country for dragging its heels when it comes to same-sex marriage.
“Australia does seem billy bonkers about [same-sex marriage],” he said during a promotional tour for his BBC One chat show, The Graham Norton Show. “Here is a country that is so gay-friendly and the pink dollar is huge for you guys, it baffles me that you don’t have it yet.”
He added: “Because you would think that Australia would have led the world in something like that because Australia is very good at promoting itself as this young, modern democracy.”
In July, Bill Shorten, leader of the Australian Labor party Bill Shorten described the proposed plebiscite as “expensive and divisive”. Like the EU referendum, the plebiscite is merely advisory, and the government is not obliged to act upon the result of the vote.#
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