GetUp! a thought police bully in same-sex debate
If the No side of the same-sex marriage debate mounted a hateful, personal attack on the career and livelihood of an individual who spoke out against its views, the condemnations would be deafening. And rightly so. In singling out Sydney general practitioner Pansy Lai in an online petition demanding an investigation into her registration, GetUp!, a leading advocate for a Yes vote in the upcoming plebiscite, has revealed its true nature. Far from wanting to “bring participation back into our democracy’’ as it pretends, GetUp! is so intolerant of those with opposing views that it wants to bully them into silence. As Dennis Shanahan reports today, almost 6000 signatories to the GetUp! petition against Dr Lai, who spoke out publicly as a mother in an anti-same-sex marriage advertisement, call on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the Australian Medical Association to review her registration. The persecution by GetUp! raises an important question about what protecti