Top Aussie magazine shut over gay feature

Sydney: A leading Australian bridal magazine has shut after being ditched by advertisers for refusing to feature same- sex couples, one year after the country changed its marriage laws.

The Christian founders of White, Luke and Carla Burrell, said they did not feature gay weddings in their magazine as they had “no desire to create a social, political or legal war”.

In a farewell blog on Saturday, the couple said they were targeted by activists because of their stance and forced to “pick a side”.

As a result, several advertisers withdrew their sponsorship making their publication “no longer economically viable”, the pair added.

Australian MPs late last year voted in favour of changing the Marriage Act after decades of inaction amid political wrangling.

The shift followed a contentious nationwide voluntary postal vote in support of legalising same- sex marriage. Nearly 80 per cent of eligible voters took part in the poll and almost 62 per cent of those who voted chose “yes”.

To placate the right wing of the conservative ruling coalition the government then commissioned a report into religious protections. Parts of the review, which called for faith- based schools to legally be allowed to discriminate against gay students and teachers, were le- aked last month.