Everyone Is Sharing Penny Wong’s Emotional Reaction To Australia’s Marriage Equality Vote
Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of Yes day.
Remember that time queer folks in Australia had to ask the entire population’s permission to get married in the national marriage equality survey? Well, this week it’s officially been four years since that most nightmarish period, but thank goodness we have Penny Wong.
LGBTIQ folks have been legally allowed to marry one another for four years, but the road to the postal survey was long and painful. The Liberal government has frequently tried to claim they, and not the public, were fully responsible for legalising gay marriage.
It’s been four years today since Australia voted YES! 🏳️🌈💍👩❤️👩👨❤️👨
The day the results of the marriage equality postal vote were announced was an historic moment in the movement for LGBTIQ+ equality, but there’s so much more to do.#Equality #LGBTIQ pic.twitter.com/MLLhM0eFdd
— Equality Australia 🌈 (@EqualityAu) November 14, 2021
The infamous survey concerning the legalisation of gay marriage went ahead after two high court challenges. Despite beastly homophobia from the ‘no’ campaign, the Yes side secured 61.6 percent of the national vote.
The legislation was passed on the 29th November 2017 in the senate, legalising gay marriage in Australia. On the day of the voting, Senator Penny Wong shared her live reaction to the vote, a moment that many queer Aussies reshared yesterday in celebration.
The moment @SenatorWong heard that the majority of Australians voted 'Yes' in the same-sex marriage survey. #SSM #auspol #7News pic.twitter.com/Sjsg6HBjWb
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) November 15, 2017
@SenatorWong was every one of us that day.
The relief, the validation, but also the anger that we had to go through this awful damned 'postal survey'.
4 years on, we don't forget what the LNP put us through. #MarriageEquality#AusPol https://t.co/u1Ik6WK1ll
— Grant Taylor 🏳️🌈🇦🇺 (@GrantKTaylor) November 15, 2021
Guaranteed to make you cry every time. @SenatorWong is so stoic, so composed, so tough – seeing this reaction from her is a clear demonstration of the awful trauma that process put LGBTQIA+ people through. Never again. #LoveWins 🏳️🌈 https://t.co/naTftaGupf
— Jess Taylor(’s Version) #ActionForAfghanistan 🇦🇫 (@taylor_jessie) November 15, 2021
Made me cry all over again. https://t.co/84gIHM3BKd
— Allison Marie Carter (@allimolly82) November 15, 2021
Penny Wong also gave an iconic speech back in August of 2017 in which she called out the government for exposing LGBTIQ people to public vitriol with the plebiscite. “Have a read of some of the things that are said about us and our families,” she said, “and then come back here and tell us this is a unifying moment.”
Four years on and the trauma of Yes Day lives alongside it. Surveys conducted after the postal vote revealed an increase in hate crimes against LGBTIQ folks, as well as an increase in mental health issues within the community.
Penny Wong delivers a blistering speech on the suggestion a same sex marriage plebiscite would be "a unifying moment" for Australia. pic.twitter.com/6dNbYi0Quh
— Henry Belot (@Henry_Belot) August 9, 2017
CEO of Equality Australia Anna Brown pointed out in 2019 that the results of the study conducted on the effects of the plebiscite on mental health apply to all public debates about the rights of minority groups.
“Over a year on from the plebiscite we are still seeing continued attacks on vulnerable trans and gender diverse young people,” Brown said. “We know they will face the same negative outcomes.”
Yes day was a historic step forward for LGBT rights on this continent, but the fact we had a survey at all shows we still have a long way to go.