The chance to vote in the same-sex marriage postal survey is drawing nearer.
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Some folks around town are making clear their positions on the big vote.
Among them is Melinda McMillan.
Melinda, a Fairfax Media journalist, and son Jude Lane, 12, showed their support for the cause at the weekend, with a painting on a wall at their Mayfield house.
“Our family is pro-marriage equality,” Melinda said.
“We have many friends who are gay and lesbian. The kids wanted to send a message to them and their families that we support them and what should be their right to marry.”
Mel said her children, and many in their generation, were “puzzled by laws which forbid same-sex marriage”.
“The kids have grown up understanding that love is not something that is exclusive to heterosexuals,” she said.
As they painted their message that “love is love”, many cars drove past. Drivers beeped their horns and yelled messages of support.
“We get a lot of traffic on our street – hopefully the fence will remind people to lodge their postal plebiscite paperwork,” she said.
Topics, too, has noticed that same-sex marriage is up there among the top issues for the younger generation.
For many youngsters, it’s their top political issue.
No doubt, many people from other generations are tired of conservative forces, stuck in the 1950s, who vehemently oppose same-sex marriage. He who doth protest too much, hey?
Topics is glad to give our support for same-sex marriage.
It’s way past time to end discrimination and persecution against the gay community.
How can we say this politely? A political system that enables prejudice and hate against people because of their sexual orientation is plain wrong. It’s also boring.
Stay with us for a sec. Just imagine, if you can, self-righteous conservatives sitting around a table in their crisp white shirts, blue ties, pleated trousers and polished shoes ranting and raving about gays and the sanctity of marriage. They all look and sound the same. Half of ‘em probably go home at night and dress up in fishnet stockings.
We sympathise with a lot of these conservatives who couldn’t get laid in high school. But that doesn’t give them the right to take out their sexually repressed feelings on gays.
Righto, righto, that might be crossing the line a tad. But we can’t help but joke about the issue. Because the whole thing is a joke, really. Politicians should have approved same-sex marriage yonks ago.
Purple Bikes
The mystery of the purple bikes at Warners Bay has been solved.
Anytime Fitness Warners Bay confessed that it was responsible for this strange bout of purple mania.
“Yes the mysterious purple bikes around Warners Bay were ours,” the fitness chain said on social media.
“It was our quirky way of raising awareness about getting active this spring.”
The mystery began when purple bikes were locked up at several public bike racks, while one was seen hanging from a street sign.
Topics likes a clever marketing idea, but we should make it clear that there’s no cash for comment in this column.
This isn’t an ad for Anytime Fitness, so we’d like to point out that there are plenty of ways to exercise without going to a gym.
But to be fair to the fitness chain, it made this point as well.
“Whether it’s kicking a footy at the park with your kids, walking along our beautiful foreshore or simply riding a bike – or you can pop in and see us at Warners Bay – it’s about getting active,” Luke from Anytime Fitness said.
“Come on Newcastle, it's your move.”
No Pain No Gain
Topics let out an “oh my god” when we read that Jobe Wheelhouse played in a grand final with a fractured ankle.
He didn’t fracture his ankle during Saturday’s game. He started the game knowing he had a fractured ankle.
Jobe, a former Newcastle Jets captain, plays for Lambton Jaffas, who defeated Edgeworth 2-0 in the Northern NSW NPL grand final.
“He probably won’t be walking for a month,” said Luke Remington, a Jaffas player, in Craig Kerry’s story in the Herald.
This reminded us of Irish cyclist Dan Martin, who rode for 12 stages in this year’s Tour de France with a broken back. Martin suffered the injury in the same crash that ruled Aussie Richie Porte out of the tour.
- topics@theherald.com.au