Same sex marriage: Entrepreneur sacks ‘vote no’ contractor

A Canberra woman says she ‘fired’ a contractor who publicly posted to social media that ‘it’s okay to vote no’ to same sex marriage. 

Kids party planner Madlin Sims posted a blunt message to Facebook this week announcing she had let go a staff member.  

‘Today I fired a staff member who made it public knowledge that they feel “it’s okay to vote no”‘,’ Ms Sims wrote.  

‘Advertising your desire to vote no for SSM is, in my eyes, hate speech. Voting no is homophobic. Advertising your homophobia is hate speech.

‘As a business owner I can’t have somebody who represents my business posting hate speech online.’ 

‘I don’t want homophobes working for me’: Businesswoman Madlin Sims confirmed she let go a contractor after the worker uploaded a photo with an ‘it’s OK to say no’ frame

Ms Sims (left, right) explained the contractor had represented her business online: ‘That’s not something I want to be affiliated with’

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Sims explained the contractor had represented her business online, including by posting photos of parties she worked at.  

She said she didn’t want the woman’s views associated with her business.  

‘It’s all quite public she worked for the business… That’s not something I want to be affiliated with,’ she said.

She compared it with employing a staff member who posted racist material online, adding she had gay friends, staff members and clients. 

‘It’s just like if I had a racist person working for me especially someone who’s so vocal with their beliefs.’ 

In the post, Ms Sims urged her friends to vote ‘yes’ in the upcoming same sex marriage survey and listed three justifications for her decision. 

‘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.’

‘Today I fired a staff member who made it public knowledge that they feel “it’s okay to vote no,”‘ Ms Sims said

An extract of Ms Sims’s post (pictured)

The ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns are currently canvassing the country for votes

A skywriter sketched these words in the sky above Sydney on Sunday morning

She explained: ‘FYI this wasn’t a ‘you’re voting no, you’re fired situation’. There were prior conversations had’. 

The apparent sacking is likely to spark the ire of the No campaign, which has made concerns about freedom of expression a major plank of its argument.  

But Yes campaign representatives have said it’s ‘misleading’ to suggest same sex marriage would affect freedom of speech.  

The result of the postal survey will be made public on November 15.  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk