Woman fired for opposing the right of same-sex couples to marry claims not to be a homophobe
The woman who lost her job after publishing her anti-same-sex marriage views on Facebook has denied being a homophobe on Sky News Australia.
Known only by her first name to the media, Madeline opposed her employer’s claims by saying everyone is entitled to an opinion.
She told Sky News: “I am the oldest of eight kids, I have helped in Sunday schools and church camps and kids camps. I’m a nanny at the moment, I’ve always worked with children, children are just what I know.”
“To be called a homophobe and to say I’m a risk for the children I work with and the families of the children that I work with, I highly disagree.”
Madlin Sims, whose company arranges children’s birthday parties, fired Madeline after she published a filter on her Facebook profile photo reading: “It’s OK to vote no.”.
(Facebook/Madlin Sims)
Madeline, who is now employed as a nanny, responded on air by saying that people were entitled to their opinions.
“This is a democracy and we were given the options and asked as Australians to vote yes or no,” she said.
“It is my opinion to vote ‘no’ and I don’t think that my job should be taken away from me just because I have opinion that someone disagrees with. I don’t think I should have been fired.
“I was told by my [current] boss today, you are entitled to your own opinion. I’m very glad I have this support at this job now.”
Sims has stood by her decision to let 18-year-old staff member Madeline go by saying on Facebook that “advertising your desire to vote no for SSM is, in my eyes, hate speech.
“Voting no is homophobic. Advertising your homophobia is hate speech.”
Sims, who lives in the capital of Canberra, explained: “1. It’s bad for business.
“2. I don’t like s*** morals. 3. I don’t want homophobes working for me, especially in an environment with children.
“It’s not okay to vote no. It’s not okay to be homophobic.”
(Facebook/Madlin Sims)
She denied censoring her staff member’s freedom of speech or discriminating against their religious beliefs, saying:
“This isn’t a matter of opinion or even religion.
“It’s a matter of the love [and] livelihood of real human beings. Freedom of speech is there for a reason and so are consequences.”
Sims has received a lot of backlash online for her decision, with some calling her “a bigot”.
Others have lent their support, with one person telling her: “Please reach out if your old employee takes legal action against your business”.
They continued: “I would like to contribute to help pay for your lawyers.
“Thank you for taking a stance and putting the future of young gay girls and boys first so that they can have an easier life.”
One person wrote: “Madlin that’s the best!! I’m so proud of you for standing up!!”
Another pointed out: “If you can sack someone for being racist you can sack someone for being homophobic”.
And writing today on Facebook, Sims had zero regrets, promising to “keep talking about marriage equality and how fkn important it is ❤️ ”.
She added: “I risked my business and my integrity doing this but I don’t really give a s*** because I can wake up tomorrow and marry any bloke I want (if they consent of course)”.
Sims also encouraged others to join her cause, adding that “if anyone else supports equality like I do and has a few spare bucks, skip your afternoon coffee and donate to the equality campaign ”.
The marriage equality debate currently happening in Australia, has led to a huge surge in homophobic behaviour, including posters which call gay people “child abusers” and “terrorists”.
