A vocal gay rights activist has defended his role in the Coopers boycott saga, claiming he did not accept that the company was hounded into professing public support for marriage equality.
Michael Barnett, convener of Jewish LGBTI support group Aleph Melbourne, said it was unfortunate the brewer had severed its long-term relationship with the Bible Society in response to the backlash over its beer featuring in a “lighthearted” debate about same-sex marriage.
“I had no desire to see anything happen in terms of their support of the Bible Society, that was really just a side-effect,” Mr Barnett told The Australian yesterday.
“My objective was simply to ascertain from Coopers its position on marriage equality.”
The Adelaide-based, family-owned brewer had a bruising encounter with marriage equality activists this week, with many taking issue with the company’s sponsorship of the Bible Society, a group that despite its claim to be apolitical is widely viewed as opposed to same-sex marriage.
Mr Barnett, a human rights and equality campaigner, was an active player in the push to boycott Coopers, which has played out on the social media platform Twitter during the past week.
Read the full article by Rebecca Urban at The Australian.