When openly gay Cootamundra resident Glenn Miller first put up a rainbow flag outside his Parker Street home, it was knocked over and left in tatters.
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His response: dust it off and stick it even higher on the roof.
“We’re tough,” he said. “You can knock us down but you can’t stop us getting back up.”
Mr Miller is a fighter and a survivor, one who has been pushing back against homophobic stigma long before marriage equality was in the picture.
“I’ve had the shit kicked out of me on the sidewalk just for being gay more times than i can remember,” he said.
“You could walk out of a bar and 50 blokes would chase you down and lay into you for no reason.”
Yet the tables are slowly turning and Wednesday’s historic ‘yes’ result in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey has landed a blow squarely in the jaw of conservative anti same-sex marriage constituents.
The Riverina’s 54.6 per cent ‘yes’ result may have been lower than both the national average (61.6%) and state average (58%) but the result is neverless a resounding success for the regional LGBTQI community.
“This is easily the happiest time of my life,” Mr Miller said.
“It’s slowly getting better here in Cootamundra but it’s a pity the younger gay community has left the town to look for work or other opportunities.”
“For now, we can just celebrate and enjoy this.”
Mr Miller’s confidence has been reinforced by Member for Riverina Michael McCormack’s pledge to uphold the region’s majority ‘yes’ vote and support the bill in parliament.
“Wednesday’s result was democracy at work,” he said.
Mr McCormack denied allegations he was considering a ‘no’ vote.
“As the Member of Parliament representing the people within the electorate of Riverina, I will be respecting and voting in support of this result.”