Grumpy Gillian is Grumpy.

[reynardo]

To start - I'm actively campaigning for Marriage Equality. In our upcoming electorate, we have ten candidates, and with one week to go, I'm finding out what their views on marriage equality actually are.

When a candidate has clearly on their page or their party's page what their position is, I note it.

But some aren't that clear, so I've emailed them. One in particular uses his Facebook page as his only contact, and his policies are mostly pretty vague. His only statement that seems to be about Marriage Equality is this:

7. One Law for all Citizens & all citizens treated equally

This could mean almost anything - I could read it as "There should be Marriage Equality" or it could mean "We should abolish all marriage and just have civil unions for all" or "Anyone can marry anyone else as long as they're of different biological sexes". I've seen far-right-wing-staunch-Fundamentalist-Christians say this, but when you get into the specifics, they mean something quite different. I wanted a clear, unambiguous statement.

This is the icon I use on Facebook. It's from a slide picture my dad took when I was 4, and you may have seen it already. Remember this as you read on, and remember that many people use icons that don't exactly look like the way they look now. Also, remember that Facebook supposedly has a minimum age of 13, so that icon definitely doesn't look like the age someone with a Facebook account should be.

So I sent him a Facebook message.

Greetings,

I am interested in my local candidates' views on Marriage Equality, that is, marriage between any two adults, regardless of their gender.

Could you please tell me:

a) Are you for or against Marriage Equality?

b) In a vote in parliament, how would you vote - for or against Marriage Equality?

Regards

And his response?

Gillian, aren't you a bit young to vote? One of my main Policies & Initiatives is a Bill of Rights where everyone is equal and no one is more equal than others. Everything follows from that. You should read the material in my Facebook.

Now those who know me know that it takes a lot to make me angry. This? I felt like I was being patted on the head, or humoured for having an icon of myself at age 4. I wondered if he thought I was a school kid doing homework.

My reply:

Dear Francesco,

As the mother of a 32 year old and 24 year old, I would suggest you research your subject before making an assumption. Which is what I'm doing. It cannot have escaped your notice that a straight answer is a difficult one to find in politics, and thus I am asking you one.

Are you for or against Marriage Equality, and which way would you vote if you were our constituent?

Let's just see where that one ends up, shall we?

Oh yes. We have ten local candidates. We have preferential voting, so I need to number them 1-10. Alas, there isn't a number any lower than ten...