The Coalition for Marriage's divisive 'Vote no' ad stirred up some controversy when it aired on Australian television on Tuesday, and now Australia's biggest marriage equality organisation has hit back.
National lobby group Australian Marriage Equality released its own ad, first shared on news.com.au, Wednesday night as a direct and explicit response to the 'Vote no' anti-marriage equality ad. The initial ad drew strong reactions across Twitter and other social media and quickly soared up trending videos rankings in YouTube Australia.
SEE ALSO: People are outraged over this new Australian anti-marriage equality adThe 30-second ad from Australian Marriage Equality features a monologue from Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor and first elected LBGT president of the Australian Medical Association Dr. Kerryn Phelps.
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"Over the coming weeks, we'll be hearing a lot about whether our family and friends, who are gay and lesbian, can get married," says Phelps in the ad. "Sadly, some are trying to mislead us, like this ad does, by saying there'll be a negative impact, including on young people.
"The only young people affected by marriage equality are young gay people, who, for the first time, will have the same dignity as everyone else in our country."
The 'Vote no' ad is still drawing buzz and is currently the second highest trending video on YouTube in Australia, sitting beneath only Taylor Swift's new music video. Of course, comments are disabled on both videos.
Both ads are the latest move in Australia's ongoing debate surrounding legalising same-sex marriage. Following the Australian government's twice-failed attempt to roll out a plebiscite (a public vote on issues that don't affect the Australian constitution) on the issue, Australians will instead be sent a voluntary postal survey to vote on marriage equality in September. A 'Yes' vote will result in a conscience vote in Australian federal parliament, while a 'No' result will see no government vote at all take place.
Expect more ads like these until then — looks like both sides are levelling up.