NSW GLRL Launches ‘Nation of Hearts’ Campaign to Mark 10th Anniversary of Iconic ‘Sea of Hearts’
Ten years ago today, on Saturday August 13, 2005, the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby launched its iconic ‘Sea of Hearts’ campaign at Victoria Park, Camperdown, in protest against the Howard Government’s 2004 ban on marriage equality.
According to the co-convenor of the time, Julie McConnell, “Last year’s marriage ban was a statement based on discrimination and prejudice against lesbians and gay men; it was a statement which said that our Love is not equal. We will be planting pink hearts to show that our relationships with each other, and with our children, are equal and deserve full legal equality.”
Those words ring as true today as they did exactly ten years ago. Current GLRL convenor Dr Justin Koonin says, “We are deeply disappointed with the decision of the Coalition party room to deny its members a free vote on marriage equality, to deny the will of the vast majority of Australians, and to deny LGBTI Australians their right to equality, dignity and respect.”
In the past ten years, the landscape of rights and social attitudes to LGBTI people in Australia has shifted markedly, with upwards of 70% of Australians now supporting marriage equality. Technology has changed too, and today the ‘Sea of Hearts’ becomes a ‘Nation of Hearts’.
All Australians, as well as our friends around the world, are invited to participate in our ‘Nation of Hearts’ campaign. This can be done by downloading our Nation of Hearts image and following the instructions on the sheet. Once planted, take a photo of your heart with its individual message of love and upload to the ‘Nation of Hearts’ Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter or email us your photo and we will upload it to our cyberspace garden (which can be viewed using the hashtag #nationofhearts).
Dr Koonin says, “We hope that this campaign will celebrate the diversity of which we can be so proud, united behind the idea that our love is more important than our differences.”
Download the Nation of Hearts image.
Where you can upload your images and take part:
Facebook: Nation of Hearts
Instagram: @nationofhearts
Twitter: @NSWGLRL
Email: nationofhearts@glrl.org.au
