Circle of life
An “incomplete” ring and 20 real-life duos are part of Airbnb’s bold marriage-equality campaign in Australia. By Akash Arora.
HIS own admission, Geoff Thomas was homophobic. The 66-year-old Sydneysider, who served in the Australian Army before moving into plumbing, “would often have throwaway lines about gays”, he recalls. But 12 years ago, something happened that made Geoff question his attitude. His son, Nathan, came out.
“This is something I would never have expected,” says Geoff. “I’m a blokey bloke. I didn’t think I was the sort of person to produce a gay son.” But instead of letting his homophobia lead to hostility towards his child, Geoff decided to examine the way he looked at things. “I discovered there was nothing wrong with my son but there was a lot wrong with my attitude,” says Geoff, who, with Nathan, features in Airbnb’s recently launched marriage-equality campaign, Until We All Belong.
At the centre of the initiative – backed by Australian Marriage Equality and supported by businesses including Google, eBay and Qantas – is a metal ring designed in consultation with Qantas creative director of design Marc Newson. Engraved with the words “Until We All Belong”, the band doesn’t quite join up, its gap symbolic of the incompleteness of Australia’s Marriage Act 1961.
The campaign has enlisted the help of 20 real-life pairs – not just same-sex couples but also duos such as mother and daughter Corinne and Johanna, brother and sister Guy and Samantha, nephew and uncle Vincent and Tito, and Geoff and Nathan, who are all wearing the ring in support of marriage equality.
“We want everyone who feels passionately about the issue to wear this ring,” says Airbnb’s Benjamin Hallam, who’s heading up the campaign. “We want the ring to start conversations about marriage equality, because robust and educated discussion around this topic is the only way we’re finally going to get [the legislation] over the line.” To order your free ring (postage and handling costs apply), go to untilweallbelong.com.