Last night SBS2’s The Feed followed Australian Marriage Equality’s deputy director Ivan Hinton on his first trip in 21 years to his hometown of Tumut, NSW to confront memories of a childhood marred by homophobia.
Mr Hinton said,
“I grew up in a small country town and from a very early age I knew there was something different about me. All too quickly the other kids noticed too so, well before we really knew what the words meant, each day I heard “fag,” “faggot,” “poofta” or “gay.” ”
In the same way that the AME team have noticed a massive shift in community attitude in regional communities on its regional electorate visits, Ivan discovered newfound support from local champions of marriage equality in Tumut.
He said,
“When Chris and I married in Canberra last year the support I received from Tumut was unexpected. There were messages of congratulations but, even more remarkable, there were some apologies for what they imagined their behaviour may have contributed to in my childhood experience. I realise how much courage it took for some to acknowledge the part they played in making life particularly difficult.”
During that time, and as marriage equality dominated the headlines, Tumut locals who are strongly opposed to homosexuality also spoke out. One wrote to the local paper and cited “the manufacturer’s handbook” and said gay people were “an abomination” who sought legal privilege “above the average citizen”.
Mr Hinton said,
“I heard that the Tumut & Adelong Times had been inundated with responses in support of people like Chris and I. Clearly many locals didn’t agree.”
One letter was from Sam Phillips who had attended High School with Ivan. In it she wrote,
“I don’t claim to be an expert, but I am married, I do have gay friends and I have a heart. I also have two sons, both of whom are too young at this stage to know what their sexual orientation will be when they mature.
“However, with narrow-minded prejudice (as appeared in the previous letter), I worry for my sons should they grow to realise they are gay … not because I believe being homosexual is any “less than”, not because I’d be ashamed of them, not because anything that [the previous writer] said is true but because, unfortunately, being GLBTI is such a hard, heart-wrenching journey, particularly in small rural areas such as ours.
“But it shouldn’t be and I believe lending my voice to support this cause may just help someone in our community; at the very least make it known that [this man’s] opinion is not the general consensus in this town.”
Sam’s “Letter to the Editor” in the Tumut & Adelong Times has now been shared over 600 times on AME’s Facebook page, ‘liked’ over 2,300 times and seen by over 100,000 people.
SBS The Feed’s broadcast can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/1nXR39U
Ivan’s op-ed as featured in Daily Life: http://bit.ly/1xjxecU
Sam’s original “Letter to the Editor” can be viewed here: http://on.fb.me/1rSY3TH
For more information contact Ivan Hinton on 0419 124 826.
Author: Ivan Hinton
Publication: Media Release
Date: 7 October 2014