Related content: Tyson Young’s letter

A post to @BelllingenCourierSun about Tyson’s letter has reached over 17,000 people since Monday night, with more than a thousand of them clicking through and spending five minutes on our website reading the letter.

An early responder was Tyson’s mother Karen, who said:

Karen was also happy to answer some questions from us:

Have you always been pro gay rights or did having your son come out when he was 17 years old shape your views?

I was always pro gay rights, but I took more of a passive role and didn't publicly advocate for them. When Tyson came out to his father and I, it really changed the way I looked at the situation. It made me realise that one of my beautiful sons has fewer rights than his brothers, so I started taking a more active role. If a 17-year-old boy can have the courage to do what he did, as his mother I felt I needed to stand beside him and fight with him. 

Did Tyson tell you about the letter beforehand or did you find out about it on your Facebook feed?

Tyson is very close to us, he called us before he wrote it to ask for our opinion on sending the letter in. He wanted to ensure we felt comfortable with it, as a lot of the community would be reading the letter and he didn't want to put us in an uncomfortable situation. But we 100% encouraged it, and we were very eager to read it. The first time I read it was when it popped up in my Facebook feed, and I couldn't be more proud.  

Were you pleased that he's speaking up, or perhaps worried he might be trolled?

I am extremely pleased he is speaking up. Being a mum, there are times I am concerned he might get trolled and have some horrible things said about him, I think that's every parents fear. But even as a 17 year old Tyson was never put off by other people’s comments or remarks. He always has been very courageous and very, very opinionated, so I knew he would handle a bad situation the nicest possible way. 

Anything else you'd like to say?

I am very proud of my son for having a voice for not only himself, but other family members too. Marriage is a union between two people who love each other, whether that is two men; two women or a man and a woman. Love is love. I want all my children to be equal and have equal opportunities; my husband and I will be voting yes. 

Tyson’s letter sparked a lively debate on Facebook, with the overwhelming majority of commentators strongly in support of his arguments. 

Robert Stockton, a former principal of Bellingen High, said it was a great letter.

“I wish you and your partner every good fortune and will certainly be voting  “yes" but your relationship is more important than a vote which has dubious validity,” he wrote.

Former resident Kayt Barr congratulated Tyson for taking a stand and speaking up, sending kudos to him, his family and his community.

She said she was glad to see Bellingen had changed, as she’d left the town  32 years ago ‘as fast as I could get away like many other country gays & lesbians’.

New resident Mandi Amethyst said the whole debate made her ‘soul hurt’.

“The fact that so many of my friends and family are under such scrutiny, by a government who seems to think it's actually anybody's business whether the LGBTQI community may get married. If I could write YES any louder and more noticeable I will!! It just disgusts me that we even need to. It should just be such a 'non-issue' like you said in that wonderful letter. I'm a Bello newbie, but i'm 100% behind you,” she wrote. 

However, there were some dissenting voices and counter-arguments.

Margie Wells said, “Just have a civil ceremony. Gawd. What's all the fuss about. Just go live your lives without all this nonsense. Have fun.”

Adam Grant provoked a flurry of responses when he said would be voting No because he wanted the definition of marriage to remain a union between a man and a woman.

Adam went on to argue that broadening the definition of marriage might lead to a slippery slope of further changes: “You say marriage is between 2 people but you want to change it from man and women so what is stopping someone from changing it to multiple people??”

Tyson thanked Adam for sharing his thoughts, then responded: “The definition of marriage has changed over 20 times since the law was introduced in 1961 to suit public opinion, so your comment about ‘marriage should stay the way it is’ is a bit confusing. Inter-racial marriage was illegal, divorce was illegal, women had zero rights in marriage and lost all assets to their husband and rape was legal within a marriage. Changing laws is the foundation of society to keep it functioning best it can. If we kept marriage as it was, imagine the life your wife would be living?”