That ' s not really what I was trying to say . Obviously gay marriage being legal would not have prevented this however , the point I was trying to make is that stirring up a massive public debate and dragging the topics of gay marriage through the news will bring the bigots out of the woodwork , and give them a justification for expressing their hate . Kids listen to the news and their parents , and if more people are saying what they really think under cover of it being a public debate where all opinions are equally worthy of being aired then some kids and especially the type of kids who bullied this kid will definitely pick up on it and echo the opinions they have heard . My point is most Australians either support gay marriage , or are at least neutral about it and willing to adopt a liveandletlive position on the matter which is actually basically where I stand it doesn ' t affect me either way , but as a general principle I think more tolerance and acceptance is better , so why can ' t the pollies just bite the bullet and legislate without the plebiscite so as to avoid the toxic debate that will inevitably surround such a plebiscite ?