Meghan Trainor lashes out at homophobic anti-marriage equality group for using her image
(Getty, Twitter/Meghan Trainor)
Meghan Trainor has hit back after her image was used to support the no side of the Australian marriage equality postal survey.
The All About That Bass singer’s face was featured on the Facebook page of the Vote NO Australia – Marriage Plebiscite group alongside the words: “My vote is no. You need to let it go”.
The message is a clear reference to one of Trainor’s songs, No, in which the American musician sings: “My name is no, my sign is no, my number is no / You need to let it go”.
(Facebook)
After a fan alerted the Grammy Award-winning star on Twitter, she lashed out at the image – which has since been deleted from Facebook – and made her allegiance clear.
Trainor wrote: “I SUPPORT MARRIAGE EQUALITY!
“Someone in Australia is illegally using my picture for a campaign against marriage equality. So wrong. Not okay”.
She continued: “I’ve said it before, Everyone should be able to love who they want. I support equality, period. ”
She then reposted Miley Cyrus’s call on her Australian fans to register to vote before the deadline at midnight tonight.
She accompanied this image with the message: ” ❤️ VOTE YES FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY. LOVE IS LOVE”.
The anti-marriage equality group – which has nearly 4,000 fans – just yesterday compared same-sex marriage with “man’s love for a dog” and called same-sex couples who wanted to wed “counterfeits”.
(Facebook/VoteNoAustralia)
In response to the backlash, the group posted on Facebook to say: “It has come to our attention that a meme was posted on the page by a new editor that was not correctly vetted of an opinion of a celebrity.
“Once it came to our attention it was immediately removed. We apologise to Megan Trainor and her support base if this has caused any angst or distress.
“We had no idea who the person in the meme was. It was sent to us by a contributor to the page.
“We are a community run page, not linked to any organisations and admit this was an unintentional error. For the record we note Megan Trainor supports Marriage Equality and we respect her right to her opinion on the matter.”
As well as Cyrus, Trainor has joined Thor star Chris Hemsworth, Margot Robbie and Ellen DeGeneres in calling on Australians to vote for marriage equality.
(Getty)
Equality has a lead in the polls, but as the voting method is untested, campaigners are urging people to do all they can to get out the vote before the deadline.
Confused? Check out our explainer – What the hell is going on with same-sex marriage in Australia?
Ahead of the vote there has been a surge in homophobic hate speech in the country, with leaflets distributed in Sydney bearing the slogan ‘stop the fags’ and linking gay people to ‘child predators’.
The ‘Coalition for Marriage’ has recently put out materials suggesting that letting gay couples marry will deprive children of a normal childhood and make them transgender.
(Instagram/Meghan Trainor)
Meanwhile, leading politicians have brandished the slogans ‘it’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve’ and compared gay weddings to marrying the Eiffel Tower.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently defended the vote despite the string of incidents, responding by telling people to hug their gay friends.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten has been harshly critical of the PM for pushing ahead with a postal vote.
He said: “There will be no protection against ballot fraud, electoral bribery, intimidation, interfering with the electoral roll or publishing misleading and deceptive material.
“[The Prime Minister] is giving his blessing to billboards, websites, pamphlets, TV advertising and online material that will vilify and demean LGBTI Australians and their children.”
Trainor unknowingly had her material used in a much more positive way when two gay dads created a reworded version of her hit Dear Future Husband – titled Dear Future Baby.
