GOODBYE NEGATIVITY, HELLO WEDDING BELLS
CHAMPION ironwoman Hayley Bateup says during the emotionally charged gay marriage debate she stopped engaging with her Facebook feed and “horrible” posts.
The Gold Coast threetime Coolangatta Gold winner and her partner April – who recently added Bateup’s surname – are celebrating the resounding ‘yes’ vote by 62 per cent of the public.
But Hayley said it was difficult at times in the leadup to the poll result.
“You had a lot of people who were very positive about it but also really negative stuff, everyone had their opinion and some didn’t make you feel very nice.
“You would see something very negative from someone who was not a proper friend but kind of a friend – and they would say or share something horrible.
“Some people thought they could have an opinion on everything such as being parents even though it was just about gay marriage. It was hard to handle and got to a point where I was ignoring a lot of things on Facebook.”
The pair, who now have two young boys – Baxter, 2, and three-month-old Banks – say they would have married by now if it was legal.
April said the pair were “committed in every regard and now it’s been accepted, assuming it becomes law, we will definitely get married”.
“It was so emotional to have the vote go through – you don’t realise how much emotion you are carrying.
“My mum texted me ‘With you all the way, yes, yes, yes!’ and it was really great to hear,” April said.
Hayley said they hadn’t had a chance to celebrate but would this weekend: “It is pretty exciting.”