#DoItInADress

The postal survey on marriage equality is an absolute joke. It’s needless. It’s expensive. It’s been set up to fail. And it’s inspired some truly hideous rhetoric that will do lasting harm to thousands of Australians who just want to be afforded the same basic rights as their friends and family members.

Still, if there’s a silver lining to be found, it’s in watching people dismantle the disgusting propaganda of the No side and turn it into something good. Like yesterday, when comedian Josh Thomas took a dumb tweet by Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi and used it to raise thousands of dollars for charity.

Last night Bernardi posted a tweet slamming Craigburn Primary School in South Australia for having a “wear a dress day”. “This gender morphing is really getting absurd,” he wrote, because there’s nothing more terrifying to the anti-marriage equality crowd than the thought of a little boy in a dress.

Bernardi also included a link to the school’s blog, where his followers could find more information about Craigburn Primary’s role in pushing the nefarious gay agenda.

One school in SA now has ‘wear a dress day’. This gender morphing is really getting absurd #auspolhttps://t.co/399EoSQxYz — Cory Bernardi (@corybernardi) September 20, 2017

Only… when you clicked the link, it turned out the whole thing was actually a fundraising initiative, as part of the Do It In A Dress campaign, which raises money to help educate girls in Africa. For a gold coin donation, students were told they could wear dresses instead of school uniforms. They’re also allowed to rock up in casual clothes, if they’d prefer.

Needless to say, when Thomas saw Bernardi’s tweet, he was far from impressed.

This is a screenshot of what that link went to. It’s students trying to raise money for charity. It has nothing to do with ‘gender morphing’ pic.twitter.com/77hmJxnsic — Josh Thomas ? (@JoshThomas87) September 20, 2017

These kids are being bullied by Cory for trying to help underprivileged girls. The site it linked to has been taken down. It appears he won. — Josh Thomas ? (@JoshThomas87) September 20, 2017

Presumably Cory had basic comprehension skills. He read this and purposefully misrepresented the intent. Again: these are kids doing charity — Josh Thomas ? (@JoshThomas87) September 20, 2017

They’ve even made space for boys that don’t feel comfortable wearing dresses. pic.twitter.com/zrUPH7XX8x — Josh Thomas ? (@JoshThomas87) September 20, 2017

These kids were being sweet, compassionate and kind. Their cause is worthy. I’m going to donate $1000 to support them. — Josh Thomas ? (@JoshThomas87) September 20, 2017

After Thomas pledged $1000, another Twitter user reached out with a direct link to the school’s fundraising page. Before long, dozens of people were sending in donations.

Thanks @aliboo05 & @JoshThomas87 for the link where you can support these kids in lifting girls out of poverty: https://t.co/UY9qNYv34t — Jarrod McKenna ن (@jarrodmckenna) September 20, 2017

Just donated $55 which pays for a girls school uniform. If her brother wants to wear it, I’m cool with that too @corybernardi @JoshThomas87 https://t.co/MCnySuLpuf — fatalberton Ⓥ (@fatalberton) September 20, 2017

Like @JoshThomas87 I’ve just donated to @OneGirlOrg, and I think you should too. https://t.co/AYxp3SFW5b — Malachi Georgiou (@malcontentG) September 20, 2017

I donated a little bit ago thanks to @JoshThomas87. It’s amazing just refreshing the page and seeing the donations coming in! #doitinadress — Nicole Glasson (@Ngl25Nicole) September 20, 2017

People also took it upon themselves to thank Bernardi for drawing their attention to such a wonderful cause. Gotta give credit where credit is due!

God bless you @corybernardi thank you for letting me know about this great cause ?? pic.twitter.com/e7cX8dsYZV — Francisco Valencia (@FraJVSydney) September 20, 2017

Hey @corybernardi I have donated to this, thanks for bringing it to our attention so their fundraising is going gangbusters. — #queer&superangry (@f_lexi_ble) September 20, 2017

What a deal! My donation helped girls edn in Africa, validated the great compassion of Craigburn PS kids & annoyed Corey Bernardi. Bargain! — janie kibble (@janiekibble) September 20, 2017

At the time of publication, Craigburn Primary School has raised more than $20,000 for the Do It In A Dress campaign. If you’d like to keep that figure going up, and stick it to Bernardi at the same time, you can chuck them some dollars over here.