Ian Thorpe and his partner Ryan Channing have added their support to the campaign to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia.
Yesterday, the couple both posted an image of themselves in Sydney sporting T-shirts emblazoned with a multi-coloured map of Australia, overwritten with the word ‘EQUALITY’.
Channing, a swimwear model, perched on Thorpe for the playful piggyback snap, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House visible in the background.
Ian Thorpe, 34, captioned his Instagram post: “It’s time Australia … Marriage equality is a human right for all.”
Channing, 26, followed suit, sharing the same image with a simple, direct message with all the hand-holding emojis: “IT’S // TIME.”
The T-shirts are similar to the ‘Say “I do” Down Under’ slogan T-shirts created by Kylie Minogue and her fiancé Joshua Sasse.
In March this year, Ryan Channing told website GuysLikeU he was concerned the Malcolm Turnbull government’s proposed plebiscite would draw negative publicity.
“I’m not so sure about this approach as I’m concerned about the possibility of seeing the anti-same-sex marriage advertisements as it could cause some people to take a step back,” he said.
“While the majority of Australians support marriage equality there is a vocal minority voice that would like to maintain the status quo.
“It’s important to make sure that it gets easier for LGBTI in future generations, not harder.”
In the interview, Channing spoke of his future plans to focus on “puppies, children and family – not particularly in that order” with Ian Thorpe.
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