Photo courtesy of ABC Australia.
Summary: Australia is voting on whether or not same-sex marriage should be legalized.
British chef Jamie Oliver is weighing in on Australian politics. This week, he criticized Australia for not allowing same-sex marriage, and he urged young voters to vote “yes” in the country’s upcoming survey on the topic.
Australia voting now until early November, and Oliver, 42, told News Corp Australia that he hopes the country’s young people vote in favor of same-sex marriage.
“Australia is quite far behind the rest of the world,” Oliver said. “Much of the world has already made it legal for same-sex couples to be married.”
Oliver said that he believes “love is love” and that the issue of marriage is often complicated by “church, religion, and politics.”
“It’s a generational thing … I’ve grown up around all kinds of people from all kinds of sexualities and I’ve had deep and meaningful friendships with all sorts of people,” Oliver said. “I’ve seen that a lot of my Aussie friends on social media are going nuts for this … at the end of the day, good parenting is good parenting, happiness is happiness and love is love.”
Oliver is not the only celebrity to voice his or her concern. According to The Daily Telegraph, Ellen Degeneres who is married to Australian actress, Portia de Rossi, has also urged young Australians to vote in November; and Elton John has said on social media how being married to a man helped him find himself. Before he married his now-husband, the 70-year-old singer was in a loveless relationship with a woman.
“I wanted more than anything to be a good husband, but I denied who I really was, which caused my wife sadness and caused me huge guilt and regret,” Elton John said.
The Australian survey is being sent by mail and it is non-binding and voluntary.
The topic of same-sex marriage has caused an uproar in the country, and the BBC reported an outbreak of violence last week. For instance, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, who is against gay marriage, was head-butted by a DJ, who later said the assault had nothing to do with the survey but that he did it because he wanted to seize the opportunity to hit Abbott.
Additionally, Australians told The BBC that they felt pressure to vote “Yes” by their employers even though it is not required to participate.
“The vitriolic abuse people experience for holding views in opposition to the legalization of same-sex marriage is phenomenal,” Karina Okotel, a prominent figure in the “No” campaign, told BBC. “A culture has developed whereby it is acceptable to vilify, mock, abuse and shame anyone who stands in the way, or even raises questions, about whether we should legalize same-sex marriage. I’ve been called a homophobe, a bigot and been told that my views are disgusting.”
In an attempt to combat violence and intimidation during the survey, Australia has already passed laws against such actions.
The result of the survey will be announced on November 15.
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