Should we exclude to be included?

A couple of hours ago, it was revealed that a motion was moved at the Sydney Mardi Gras’Annual General Meeting that the meeting

Does not believe that a prime minister who denies us equality should be welcome as an official guest at our parade.

This means that our current Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has been officially uninvited from the 2017 Sydney Mardi Gras.

Wow… Harsh.

Although, the reasoning behind the decision is highly valid: Last year he attended, smiled for the press, had a jolly good time and made it look like he was all for equality, and then continued to refuse to pass marriage equality back at work. It’s unbelievable.

Now, I have tried to stay as apolitical as possible on this blog, but I cannot help but comment on this man’s distasteful and offensive tactics. It is unbelievable that he feels he has the right to take advantage of the event to boost his own media profile, whilst he continues to oppress and refuse the rights of these same people he partied with.

So yes, I understand where they are coming from, but surely kicking him out isn’t the most effective way to go about things? I doubt that he is going to be affected in the slightest by being uninvited to ‘just another community event’, in fact, I’m sure he’d love the night off he’s just been given.

Fighting hate and ignorance with just more hate really isn’t going to do anything but produce more hate, perhaps with a side of bitterness. To make a difference, we need to show that this is an issue of love. If we project love and show, through this same love, how important equality is to our community, it will fall on kinder ears rather than hardened deaf ones?

Hate is what fuels violent clashes and gives our opponents (I honestly hate using that word in this context) a reason to deny our rights. Love is what empowers us and gets the job done without harming anyone.

So, I’d love to hear from YOU: Should we, the LGBTQI+ community and allies, exclude to be included?