Ex-Prime Minister Tony Abbott wants to ban Macklemore from playing same-sex anthem ‘Same Love’
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has repeatedly spoken out against same-sex marriage in recent years.
As the postal vote on the issue continues, the former leader is now trying to stop Macklemore playing same-sex anthem ‘Same Love’ (which you can listen to below) at a rugby match.
The rapper will play the half-time show at the NRL Grand Final this Sunday, and his four-track set will include his 2012 collaboration with Ryan Lewis.
‘Same Love’ was adopted as an unofficial anthem for the support for same-sex marriage in the US.
Macklemore in concert (Getty Images)
When it emerged that it would be performed at the rugby final, it sparked protests from those opposed to same-sex marriage.
Related: What the hell is going on with same-sex marriage in Australia?
The Coalition for Marriage, which has often claimed it supports “freedom of speech”, said it was “bizarre that the NRL would choose to use its half-time entertainment to push a message which it knows millions of Australians disagree with”.
And former rugby player Tony Wall petitioned the boss of the NRL, Todd Greenberg, to say that the song should not be performed because the league must “take a neutral position on the question of same-sex marriage”.
Abbott, who was booed during his appearance at the final in 2014, wrote on Twitter: “Footy fans shouldn’t be subjected to a politicised grand final. Sport is sport!”
The former Prime Minister’s opposition to same-sex marriage has caused much friction within his own family.
His gay sister Christine Forster was not happy with him blocking same-sex marriage in 2015 and has more recently spoken out against his stance on the issue.
Forster, a Liberal councillor in Sydney, deconstructed Abbott’s argument with a line-by-line rebuttal, where she urged the Australian people to vote yes on the proposal.
Abbott later said it would be better for Forster’s children to be raised by a straight couple.
Earlier this week, Abbott’s own daughter Frances Abbott appeared in an advert for the Yes campaign.
Tony Abbott (Stefan Postles/Getty Images)
“You can’t help who you fall in love with,” she said in the advert.
“Love just happens sometimes and it’s unexpected and that’s kind of what’s the awesome thing about it.”
She continued: “I look at Aunty Chris and I don’t think she planned to fall in love with Virginia, it just happened!
“It never really changed anything. She was still Aunty Chris.
“She’s still going to be at Christmas. She’s still going to be at the family barbecues. Her children are still my cousins.
“This is why it really just doesn’t make sense to me that it’s not allowed.”
Watch the music video for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s ‘Same Love’ below
