Holly Throsby Speaks Out On Marriage Equality

Aussie singer-songwriter Holly Throsby has questioned Australia's attitude to same sex marriage in an opinion piece written for Fairfax, speaking out about her own relationship and the treatment she has been subjected to due to her sexuality.

It was sports journalist Andrew Webster's stirring piece on coming to terms with his sexuality that inspired Throsby to speak out about hers, and, while she admits that she personally hasn't been subjected to aggressive homophobia, she expresses just how hurtful comments such as those of former Katter Party senate candidate Bernard Gaynor can be.

Throsby says that Gaynor's comments about not allowing a gay person to teach his children hit her hard, particularly given she was touring the release of her children's record See! at the time.

“Around the time I was touring it, former Katter party Senate candidate Bernard Gaynor said he wouldn't let a gay person teach his children. There was uproar, as well as murmurs of agreement,” Throsby writes. “You get a thick skin with so much homophobic content in the world, but reading that, I cried on the newspaper. I thought of my friends who are wonderful teachers and happen to be gay or transgender. I thought of the LGBTQI kids in classrooms. And I thought of myself, going out there and performing my kids' songs, which are vaguely educational (about the solar system, correct use of plurals, the seasons).

“The idea that some people think gay people shouldn't raise children or teach children? To me, that is heartbreaking.”

Throsby ends the column by hammering in similar sentiments that Webster did in his, another attempt to open people's eyes to the fact that sexuality is not a choice. She speaks of her song Now I Love Someone, which has been used as a wedding song by countless people in recent years, and asks why she isn't allowed the same rights as the people who relate to this song.

“As far as choice goes, gay people don't choose to be gay. Straight people don't choose to be straight. But straight people can choose to get married. And most people choose a wedding song because it mirrors their experience. If people in straight relationships feel that my song mirrors theirs, enough to play it at their wedding, then aren't our experiences the same? Isn't my experience of love as good and as valid as theirs? And, if so, then why can't I get married too?

Read the full piece here.