By Andy Young
Coopers Brewery has apologised for the offence caused by its recent involvement with the Bible Society and has said that it supports marriage equality.
The Brewery was speaking after the social media backlash over a video about marriage equality saw several venues saying they would no longer stock Coopers' products. In response Coopers has issued a statement from Managing Director Dr Tim Cooper and Director of Corporate Affairs, Melanie Cooper, saying that it was withdrawing its Bible Society commemorative cans and that it would be joining Australian Marriage Equality.
“On behalf of the Coopers Board and senior staff, we are incredibly saddened by the impact our involvement with the Bible Society has had on our valued Coopers drinkers and our extended family,” Dr Cooper said.
He added: “As a longstanding philanthropic company, Coopers Brewery has been passionate about supporting all aspects of our community, and has actively and financially embraced many different organisations.
“Our company’s guiding principles have centred around respect for others, and, as such, the recent activity surrounding the video made by the Bible Society has conflicted with our core values. Coopers never intended to make light of such an important issue, and would never and did not approve the making or release of the Bible Society video ‘debate’.”
Melanie Cooper said Coopers Brewery was and had always been supportive of diversity and encourages individualism.
“Our company supports marriage equality.
“Offence has been taken by our recent involvement, for which we are deeply sorry. We have listened to a range of community views, we acknowledge this feedback and respect everyone’s individual opinions and beliefs.
“We have consequently cancelled the release of our Bible Society commemorative cans and will be taking steps to show our further support for our community, including joining Australian Marriage Equality.
“Our company brews great beer that we are passionate about, and we warmly embrace all Australians.”
So far the reaction to the statement seems to have been largely positive, with Victoria's 2017 Young Australian of the Year and LGBTI and mental health advocate, Jason Ball, thanking the brewer for its new found support of marriage equality and saying he was willing to take the apology at face value.
It was a beatup to intimidate and bully Coopers into supporting the gay culture. People are assessing us, voting and making decisions which affect our lives pretty much every day. That’s society. Our feelings are not the reason a plebiscite should be knocked back. We’re just pawns in the game of politics. Homosexuals are the pawns in the Maxist socialist politics and they don’t even know it – they’re being played like fools. We should have a balanced and considered approach to issues and moderated opinion. That’s how you get change in the modern world, not by holding your breath and stamping your feet….in my experience, that just gets people offside. As for polling that shows 70% in support of same sex marriage: interesting statistic that 70%. Of course, that was derived from an opinion poll and hardly anyone has seen the actual question. I know I haven’t. Maybe Fairfax and other hard-left wing media could publish an article which explains the derivation of that number. It’s equally likely that 70% are not opposed to SSM…..especially if the question includes “same sex marriage†instead of “marriage equalityâ€. That’s a bit different…..after all, we already have “marriage equality†(ie. everyone has equal opportunity to marry under the current definition of marriage in the Marriage Act, but homosexuals choose not to marry this way because they want to change the definition of marriage to include same sex couples – hence, marriage equality is not an issue, but redefining marriage is. BTW, gay marriage can occur right now if a gay man marries a gay woman, so the result is gay marriage within the current definition of marriage in the Marriage Act, but once again, homosexuals choose not to marry this way – marriage is ALWAYS a choice and not a right) so obviously more people would say YES to “marriage equalityâ€, but calling it “homosexual marriage†or “same sex marriage†is far more off-putting. Even now, the pro-SSM side are admitting that only 40% are “strong supporters†of SSM and so they know that a plebiscite of any sort won’t get passed. Also, the 70% polling doesn’t even pass the conflict-of-interest test and was selectively polling people in inner city electorates. For example, the Queensland Times newspaper has done a poll showing only 34% approve SSM, 65% disapprove and 1% undecided . I do not agree that “most of the public†want this. I do not know a single person who supports gay marriage and we have never been asked in any of the obviously rigged polls.