Culture

Margot Robbie Made A Stand For Australian Marriage Equality While Hosting ‘SNL’

#SayIDoDownUnder

by Meg Watson  2 October 2016

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Margot Robbie finished up her first hosting gig on SNL in the US today and, by all accounts, she killed it. A great pre-filmed skit saw her flip the ‘sexy librarian’ trope on its head and her live impression of Ivanka Trump stood up to the likes of Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton and Alec Baldwin’s just-debuted Donald Trump.

But, for Australian viewers, one of her outfits may have stolen the show (it wasn’t the dress with weed all over it).

Though she didn’t speak on the topic, Robbie’s “Say I Do Down Under” shirt sent a pretty clear message about Australia’s reluctance to legislate marriage equality to the millions tuned in to watch SNL‘s season premiere.

It’s also not the last we’ll seeing of the shirt or logo. The phrase is the start of a new campaign launched by British actor Joshua Sasse in collaboration with Australians 4 Equality. He launched a new website, Instagram, and hashtag to coincide with Robbie’s appearance and it’s now trending across Australia.

Sasse’s interest in this issue was first ignited through his relationship with Kylie Minogue.

“I was shocked to find out earlier this year that same-sex marriage in Australia is still illegal,” Sasse has written on the new campaign website. “There are many hurdles to jump in order to make constitutional change, but we are now the closest we’ve ever been to that change.

“Let’s raise our voice and public support for change. Get a shirt. Wear your heart on your sleeve.”

It’s not yet clear if he’s advocating for a ‘yes’ vote in the potential plebiscite or making a plea for Australia’s politicians to legislate directly. Either way, there’s more than little cultural cringe deliberately built into the whole thing with Sasse and Minogue making a point to highlight the issue with their high-profile buds in the US.

When you think about it, it’s pretty fitting that Margot Robbie was the one to kick things off. Let’s prove once and for all that Australia isn’t a nation of “throwback people”.

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Read more about the campaign and/or get your hands on a shirt here.