In 2006 the Order of Perpetual Indulgence published the New Gay Newspaper. One of the articles by James Rendell 1+1 does not Equal 0 spoke out in support of Equal Marriage Rights and this was the start of the journey towards the first Marriage Equality Campaign in Australia.
The response from the grassroots community was very interesting. Firstly the article was very well received by people and we were surprised by how many ordinary every day people agreed with the message.
It was this feedback from the community that inspired Sr Mary-Jane and Mother Gretta to have the Marriage Chapel of the Black Swan at Perth Pride Fairday in 2006 where the Sisters conducted weddings and members of the gathered faithful stuck a pin in a doll with John Howard's face on it.
John Howard lost the next election and when they saw how popular the issue of Marriage Equality was with grassroots people, the political operative class, quickly "stole" the Sister's idea, as we knew they would, and the rest is history.
These videos document what was Australia's First Marriage Equality Campaign which was conducted by the Order of Perpetual Indulgence Abbey of the Black Swan Perth. We're hoping to be able to convince Sr Slash to do a reading of their Marriage Blessing from 2011.
Above and Below: Archives of the Sister's New Gay Newspaper from 2006.
Above: The OPI Perth Marriage Think Tank Survey which was the first survey of it's kind in Australia.
Keep Smiling and Thank you for your Visit! Please Buy us a Coffee to Support our Community Work or Contact Us to Arrange to purchase a Print Sized Image or a signed limited edition print.
