Marriage equality proponents oppress anti-gay politician by interrupting his dinner

Tony Abbott, the conservative leader of the Australia’s opposition party, was having dinner on Sunday night in Melbourne when he was interrupted by a group of gay rights activists.

Abbott, who said just yesterday that he wants a “non-discriminatory society” in which gays and lesbians are not allowed to get married, was not pleased to be disturbed during his meal.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

…the group of about six protesters chanted: “Tony Abbott, you’re a bigot, gay marriage you don’t dig it,” before being removed from the restaurant by a staff member.

Equal Love convenor Ali Hogg, who organised the protest, said she was tipped off about Mr Abbott’s location by another diner in the restaurant.

“We took the opportunity to give him a piece of our mind,” she told the National Times this morning.

Restaurant staff remove the protesters.

According to Ms Hogg, Mr Abbott smirked at the protesters and said, “I think you’ve made your point. I think you should leave now.”

Oh yeah, nothing says “I respect gays and lesbians” like smirking. Except, I guess, prohibiting them from getting married.

New York, NY

Chloe Angyal is a journalist and scholar of popular culture from Sydney, Australia. She joined the Feministing team in 2009. Her writing about politics and popular culture has been published in The Atlantic, The Guardian, New York magazine, Reuters, The LA Times and many other outlets in the US, Australia, UK, and France. She makes regular appearances on radio and television in the US and Australia. She has an AB in Sociology from Princeton University and a PhD in Arts and Media from the University of New South Wales. Her academic work focuses on Hollywood romantic comedies; her doctoral thesis was about how the genre depicts gender, sex, and power, and grew out of a series she wrote for Feministing, the Feministing Rom Com Review. Chloe is a Senior Facilitator at The OpEd Project and a Senior Advisor to The Harry Potter Alliance. You can read more of her writing at chloesangyal.com

Chloe Angyal is a journalist and scholar of popular culture from Sydney, Australia.

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