AME partnered with a diverse range of organisations and supporters across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex LGBTIQ couples from marriage in Australia.
Australian Marriage Equality, with Senator Janet Rice, lodged a High Court Challenge to the constitutional validity of this postal survey, which was heard in September.
[3] Luke, grandson of the former Mayor of Prahran George Gahan, had been a member of the Australian Labor Party and Treasurer of the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby.
[16] He continued to play an ongoing role in the organisation since his election, serving as co-chair and a member of the Board after Australian Marriage Equality adopted a more formalised governance model in 2015.
The formal Board that was introduced in April 2015 saw Janine Middleton, who had spent two decades overseas working in the finance industry, join Alex Greenwich as co-chair.
Other Board members appointed at this time included Jay Allen, who had served as Secretary of the organisation since 2012, Sarah Midgley, NSW Co-Convenor since 2012 and Tim Peppard who had been a Victorian Director since 2013.
Shirleene Robinson, NSW Co-Convenor since 2012, later joined the Board[18] In August 2015, Croome stepped down from his role as National Director of AME, announcing he wished to focus exclusively on an anti-plebiscite campaign.
[24] Later that year, they launched a series of touring workshops called "Local Voices," which aim to cultivate grassroots activism for same-sex marriage.
[25] Speaking on behalf of AME, Rodney Croome has repeatedly criticised Senator Cory Bernardi's remarks linking same-sex marriage to polygamy and bestiality.
In June 2013 Croome said "Not one country that has allowed same-sex marriage has moved to legitimise polygamy or bestiality for the simple reason they're not linked, legally, socially or culturally".
[26] In August 2013, AME announced that they would distribute leaflets to "over half a million Australian voters" with information about their local candidate's stance on marriage equality.
[34] In 2013, Rodney Croome criticised the tactics of the Australian marriage-equality lobby-group Equal Love as "counterproductive and unrepresentative" to the movement, which he claimed drive away the elderly and people of faith, echoing other criticism of the group in the Star Observer.
[35][36] A committee member for Equal Love argued Croome launched an "unsubtle attack" and defended their tactics, stating "a visual display of community outrage over the issue emboldens those who want change"[37] In late 2013, following an exchange between AME and Tony Briffa, vice president of the Organisation Intersex International Australia, regarding the terminology same-sex marriage,[38][39][40] the issue was resolved[41] such that any proposed legislation should not use the phrase 'same-sex marriage'.
[45] In March 2015 an ad denouncing same-sex families was broadcast on national TV, during the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, causing backlash amongst the community on social media.