SYDNEY, Australia, September 28, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — The National Rugby League (NRL) championship is showcasing a gay “marriage” anthem while football fans and former players want to kick politics out of the game.
U.S. rapper Macklemore, whose marriage equality anthem “Same Love” topped the Australian charts, is scheduled to be a featured singer for the NRL Grand Final. The “Australian Super Bowl” takes place Sunday.
Simultaneously, Australia is in the midst of a national poll, a referendum on homosexuality, with citizens voicing their opinion on legalizing same-sex “marriage.”
“It's interesting actually because I'm playing 'Same Love' and they're going through right now trying to legalize same-sex marriage in Australia, so I'm getting a lot of tweets from angry, old white dudes in Australia,” a defiant Macklemore told Los Angeles radio station KPWR. “I think there was a petition today to ban me from playing. I'm gonna go harder.”
Fans are outraged. Many have taken to social media to demand that the NRL not exploit the unifying sport with divisive politics. Some say they have tickets but won’t come.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who has made known his opposition to homosexual “marriage,” says the selection of that particular song is unfair to fans and harms the integrity of the sport.
“Footy fans shouldn’t be subjected to a politicized grand final,” the prime minister tweeted. “Sport is sport!”
Footy fans shouldn't be subjected to a politicised grand final. Sport is sport! https://t.co/1uRh4eZ61Z
— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) September 27, 2017
A day later, Abbott followed up by saying, “Everyone has a right to express their opinion. The opinion that I expressed yesterday was that the NRL had made a poor call in doing what they did,” Abbott said.
Attorney General George Brandis, who supports same-sex “marriage,” had responded to Abbott’s tweet by saying, “I thought Mr Abbott believed in freedom of speech.”
Abbott’s daughter Frances has come out publicly in favor of same-sex “marriage,” and even appeared in the gay campaign’s ads.
Former rugby player Tony Wall spoke out against the NRL’s political opportunism, reasoning that it’s bad for the country, especially the children.
“I am really concerned about a recent decision of the NRL to back the Yes campaign for the Marriage Law Postal Survey,” Wall wrote online. “It will be very difficult to watch the NRL Grand Final with my wife and five young children as the event will be heavily politicized with a LGBTIQ anthem taking center stage.”
“My family and many other loyal NRL fans, who are ‘No’ voters (on the national gay “marriage” referendum), will not feel comfortable watching the Grand Final when the NRL is imposing a … political stance on its fans while the issue is currently being voted on by the Australian people,” Wall reasoned.
“I demand that the NRL reconsider its political position and remove LGBTIQ politics out of the awesome sport of Rugby League.”
Wall initiated an online petition to take the marriage “equality” song out of the national event. The petition has already garnered nearly 9,500 signatories.
“Take LGBTIQ politics out of the NRL,” Wall’s petition, which is addressed to NRL head Todd Greenberg, stated. “Join with me in voicing your concern and demand that the NRL take a neutral position on the question of same-sex marriage.”
Other leaders have spoken out as well.
Pro-marriage and family groups are promoting Wall’s petition. The Coalition for Marriage spokesman David Goodwin explained, “Australian sports fans just want to watch the footy without being force-fed LGBTIQ messages at the game.”
“Sport is something that unites all Australians,” Goodwin continued, “so it is pretty bizarre that the NRL would choose to use its half-time entertainment to push a message which it knows millions of Australians disagree with.”
The song itself is a mini-campaign for same-sex “marriage” and homosexual normalcy. It was recorded in 2012 when Washington state was holding a popular referendum on gay “marriage.” Washingtonians narrowly approved the referendum 54 percent to 46 percent.
Macklemore’s message in “Same Love” is the popular slogan “love is love,” referring to sodomy as equal to traditional marriage and natural family. NRL officials say they are not making a political statement.
“I think it is one of the bravest and best decisions we have made for pre-match entertainment, but people will be the judge of that on Sunday,” league chief executive Todd Greenberg said.
But the lyrics of the featured “Super Bowl” song seem to speak otherwise:
“For those who like the same sex … The right-wing conservatives think it’s a decision and you can be cured with some treatment and religion, man-made, rewiring of a pre-disposition. Playing God, ahh nah,” Macklemore rhythmically chants. “America the brave still fears what we don’t know.”
Macklemore accuses Christian ministers of “preach(ing) hate at the service,” and concludes that biblical sermons (taken from “a book written 3,500 years ago”) “aren’t anointed.”
“That Holy Water that you soak in,” the rapper diatribes against pastors, “is then poisoned.” “No freedom ‘til we’re equal; damn right I support it … Progress, march on!”
The song’s mantra chorus keeps chanting that sexual orientation “can’t change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to.”
The Australian citizen referendum is a non-binding postal survey that began September 12. Sixteen million voters received the poll in the mail and have until November 7 to mail it in.
Homosexual groups hope that the poll will be enough to push Parliament into legalizing sodomic “marriages.” Since 2004, there have been 22 attempts to do so.