Support for equal marriage plummets in Australia

Support for equal marriage had dropped sharply in Australia, as anti-gay marriage activists continue a scaremongering campaign.

Australia’s right-wing Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is currently holding a country-wide postal vote on whether same-sex marriage should be permitted.

As the vote got underway, anti-LGBT activists have begun a divisive campaign based on tactics developed by evangelicals in the US, attempting to conflate the marriage vote with transgender issues and LGBT sex education.

The ‘No’ camp has received broad coverage throughout the Australian media with warnings about ‘transgender marriage’  – even though the vote has no impact on transgender issues – and claiming without basis that it will lead to ‘radical gay sex education’.

A new poll this week showed that their scaremongering is beginning to pay off, with a sharp drop in support for equal marriage.

The Guardian Essential polling carried out this week shows that support for equal marriage has dropped to 55 percent – down from 59 percent two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, opposition has risen to 34 percent, up 3 percent in just two weeks.

The figures represent a seven-point drop in support from July, when 61 percent of Australians backed equal marriage.

Opposition has also intensified, surging 8 points from a low of 26 percent in June.

Equal marriage campaigners say that the rise in opposition shows that the ‘No’ campaign’s dirty tactics are beginning to cut through.