Marriage Equality Ads to Hit Australia

Marriage equality advocates plan to launch television ads Valentine's Day that will run throughout the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebration, which ends in March.

The campaign is sponsored by the groups GetUp! and Australian Marriage Equality, according to the The Sydney Morning Herald, which interviewed AME spokesman Alex Greenwich.

"The television campaign, 'Marriage Matters,' which will run throughout the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, has been timed partly in anticipation of an attack from the 'cashed-up religious right' in the lead-up to the ALP's National Conference in December where the Labor Party plans to reassess its stance on gay marriage, Mr Greenwich said," the Herald reported.

Greenwich said of the nonconfrontational ad campaign, ''It's about family and about putting a face to this issue."

The campaign arrives as federal parliament members proceed with their plan to consult their constituents about marriage. MPs reports mixed results, according to the Herald.

Last week, during a review of Australia's human rights performance by 50 member states at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, it was recommended by Norway, a country where same-sex couples can marry, that Australia recognize marriage equality.