Telstra Has Reportedly Removed Their Support Of Marriage Equality After Religious Intervention
Giving the public another reason to shake their fists at them, Telstra has reportedly just removed its support for same-sex marriage, allegedly due to pressure from the Catholic Church.
As The Australian has revealed today, Archdiocese of Sydney business manager Michael Digges sent a letter to the company threatening they would withdraw the churches contracts after Telstra’s logo was used with permission in support for same-sex marriage in an Australian Marriage Equality advertisement last May.
Hey @Telstra can you confirm this story? Yours sincerely, one of your customers that hasn't bullied your conscience pic.twitter.com/szT2t2JhJZ
— Charlie Pickering (@charliepick) April 13, 2016
As Telstra has contracts for all Catholic schools across the country, it is now being reported that the company has backed away from public support for same-sex marriage. As a Telstra spokesperson told The Australian:
“The government has committed to putting same-sex marriage before the Australian people in a plebiscite and, ultimately, it will be parliament who determines any changes to the institution of marriage.
“In view of this, Telstra has no further plans to figure prominently in the wider public debate. Telstra has demonstrated it places great importance on diversity and standing against discrimination, in all its forms. Our workforce reflects this diversity.”
Telstra last month vs Telstra today pic.twitter.com/X15ZGWlPqe
— Casey Briggs (@CaseyBriggs) April 12, 2016
Since the backflip in support has come out, several Telstra users have stated that they will no longer support the company as customers.
Are @Telstra 's many outages enough of a breach to void my contract? I don't want to support them after this marriage equality backflip.
— Adam Richard (@adamrichard) April 13, 2016
Dear @Telstra, in light of you withdrawing your support for same-sex marriage, I withdraw my support for you. https://t.co/x7ZK4ienWT
— Lucy MacDonald (@LucyMac91) April 13, 2016
Telstra has previously promoted same-sex programs such as Spectrum which celebrated LGBTI people and were official sponsors of the 2015 Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. However, there is no longer any mention of any marriage equality campaigns on the Telstra website.
The saddest bit about the Telstra/Catholic schools thing is the fact that it's taxpayer money the Church was threatened to withhold.
— Osman Faruqi (@oz_f) April 13, 2016
The funny thing is that if the Catholic Church was to leave Telstra, they wouldn’t have any other telecommunication options, as both Vodafone and Optus are strong supporters for LGBTI rights. If Telstra was to grow a spine and take a stand, they might leave the Catholic Church without an alternative.
