A farmer who opposes gay marriage has been bombarded with abusive Facebook messages and death threats for posting an image of herself with a postal vote ballot.
Kirralie Smith, from northern New South Wales, was advised to stand in front of a train by one abusive man who also wished she would get AIDS, the disease which has killed millions of gay men since the 1980s.
Ms Smith said the abuse made her feel ‘violated’ and the content – including graphic hardcore pornography – is beyond anything she could have imagined.
A farmer who opposes gay marriage has been bombarded with abusive Facebook messages and death threats for posting an image of herself with a postal vote ballot (pictured)
Kirralie Smith (pictured), from northern New South Wales, was advised to stand in front of a train by one abusive man who also wished she would get AIDS
Ms Smith said the abuse (pictured) made her feel ‘violated’ and the content – including graphic hardcore pornography – is beyond anything she could have imagined
‘I did expect some haters to respond but I was unprepared for the barrage of hate, vulgar messages and threats I received,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I notice that lesbians such as Christine Forster posed for such photos with her partner. Did they cop the same level of vitriol and hatred for doing so?’
‘Your [sic] still a slag and I hope you get aids [sic]’ wrote one Facebook user.
‘I also hope you get hit by a bus! Or if you have children, that one of them is gay. You have the right to your opinion but not to post photos of it. You are a stupid c***.,’ read another message.
‘I did expect some haters to respond but I was unprepared for the barrage of hate, vulgar messages and threats I received,’ said Ms Smith (pictured)
‘I notice that lesbians such as Christine Forster posed for such photos with her partner. Did they cop the same level of vitriol (pictured above) and hatred for doing so?’ said Ms Smith
The level of vitriol has left Ms Smith questioning why she should be forced to deal with such hateful responses to a simple photograph.
‘Do I just have to suck this up? Are people really entitled to behave in such a manner when all I did was post a legal and acceptable option when participating in this postal survey?’ she said.
I am not breaking any laws. I am upholding a current law. I am using my democratic right to exercise my choice. Why should I be subject to such horrid remarks and images for doing so?’
The level of vitriol (pictured above) has left Ms Smith questioning why she should be forced to deal with such hateful responses to a simple photograph.
In addition to the hateful messages, insults and death threats, some social media users even sent offensive images.
One such image is from a hardcore pornographic film and depicts two men involved in a sex act.
‘You’re a piece of s***,’ ‘I really hope you get hit by a bus,’ ‘You need a bullet,’ and ‘I wish nothing but bad for you and your family,’ are some of the other messages.
Ms Smith was told to ‘Eat a d***,’ called a ‘homophobic b****,’ a ‘nasty nasty cow,’ a ‘f***wit,’ and told to ‘Rot in hell.’
In addition to the hateful messages (pictured), insults and death threats, some social media users even sent offensive images
The avalanche of abuse comes after weeks of accusations from the ‘no’ campaign that a fringe element of the ‘yes’ side are shutting down debate with abuse and violence.
Last week a priest was spat at while walking down the street in Brisbane and called ‘a f***ing no voter’.
After former prime minister Tony Abbott was headbutted by an anarchist DJ wearing a Yes badge, activists started using ‘Headbutt homophobes’ banners at rallies.
Dr Francisco Perales at the University of Queensland suggested opponents of same-sex marriage are less intelligent.
The avalanche of abuse (pictured above) comes after weeks of accusations from the ‘no’ campaign that a fringe element of the ‘yes’ side are shutting down debate with abuse and violence
Lecturers Catherine Greenhill and Diana Combe at the University of New South Wales have told maths students not to use the word marriage.
A ‘yes’ voter was caught on film in Chatswood in Sydney’s north racially abusing ‘no’ campaigners.
Students at the University of Sydney clashed when a ‘no’ campaign rally turned violent after ‘yes’ campaign counter-protesters turned up.
Just days later a gay man was viciously heckled at a similar rally at the University of Queensland and accused of ‘internalised homophobia’.
A Coalition for Marriage event was disrupted by protesters who stormed the venue and blocked the stage with a banner saying ‘Burn churches not queers’.
The most recent Sky News ReachTel poll of 5,000 people found 64 per cent have voted ‘yes’, 15.5 per cent have voted ‘no’ and 21 per cent are yet to vote (pictured above is abuse received by Ms Smith)
Vandals attacked a church in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, spray-painting it with ‘Vote Yes’ slogans.
Gay anarchists took over the former headquarters of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and scrawled hateful anti-police slurs on the walls.
‘Sometimes find myself wondering if I’d hate-f**k all the anti-gay MPs in parliament if it meant they got the homophobia out of their system,’ wrote openly-gay comedian and Safe Schools author Benjamin Law to his 77,000 Twitter followers.
A Canberra woman was fired for saying ‘It’s okay to vote no’ on Facebook, with her boss Madlin Sims calling it ‘homophobic hate speech’.
Dr Pansy Lai – who appeared in the first Coalition of Marriage advertisement – was targeted by a petition seeking to have her stripped of her medical licence.
The most recent Sky News ReachTel poll of 5,000 people found 64 per cent have voted ‘yes’, 15.5 per cent have voted ‘no’ and 21 per cent are yet to vote.