Can you spot what’s wrong with this image of an anti-gay marriage rally?
It was taken at the Coalition for Marriage’s Family Festival in south-west Sydney.
However, ‘No’ case event organisers had an innocent explanation for the lack of age diversity in the photograph.
It was taken at Fairfield Showground, where 10,000 people had gathered on Sunday to campaign against redefining marriage as part of the $122 million postal vote survey on the issue.
The Coalition for Marriage says elderly people were given seats out of cultural respect
One man mocked how there were elderly women in the picture, asking if they came for cake
This critic wondered if there was anyone at the ‘No’ case rally who was younger than 60
‘The reason for the elderly being in the main image is both practical and cultural… there were limited numbers of seats, and so the older people were obviously seated,’ a Coalition for Marriage spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
‘Respect for the elderly is strong amongst ethnic communities, and so it is not uncommon that older generations are given the more prominent positions.
‘Photos taken from the front of the crowd would necessarily show older faces.’
The spokeswoman added that younger people, including many parents, had been busy taking their children to rides or helping out as event organisers.
This critic assumes that elderly people opposed to redefining marriage are ‘old and bitter’
‘So many of the younger people with young families were spread out in these areas,’ she said.
‘Additionally, many of the young attendees spent their time volunteering for crowd control, security, information stalls and the like.’
This ‘No’ rally had also attracted 10 times the number of people who gathered at Sydney’s Oxford Street gay district on Sunday to hear 1970s popstar John Paul Young, 67, perform his 39-year-old hit Love Is In The Air for the Post Your Yes Vote Street Party.
This 1,000-strong Darlinghurst event outside gay nightclubs didn’t have much outdoor seating.
Still, the Coalition for Marriage’s Facebook page contained comments mocking the advanced age of the ‘No’ rally participants in the photograph, including one racially denigrating the elderly people for being of Italian heritage.
The Coalition for Marriage’s ‘No’ case rally attracted 10,000 people, with the old given seats
This woman highlighted how the ‘No’ case rally actually attracted the young and the old
‘Do all the nonnas know why they’re even there? There must have been cake,’ one man wrote.
One man suggested the elderly people were angry, even though it was politicians from their era who discriminalised homosexuality across Australia.
‘It is a sea of old and bitter,’ he said.
The Coalition for Marriage spokeswoman said the criticism of the elderly people in the photograph was a reflection on their critics.
‘To be frank, criticism of an image showing the diversity of Australians in terms of age and ethnicity is just plain offensive,’ she said.
‘It’s extraordinary but somewhat unsurprising that those who purport to champion diversity would make such criticisms.’
Several people praised the elderly people for at least being skeptical of social change, ahead of the November 7 to return postal votes.
‘It’s so great to see the very young and the elderly coming together to defend marriage,’ one woman said.