Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and wife Lucy Turnbull

The Australian Prime Minister has ignored pleas from LGBT rights activists in order to put marriage equality up to a public vote.

Seeing as it’s fair game now for the public to vote on whether people deserve basic fundamental rights, we thought we’d pay Mr Turnbull the same courtesy.

The leader has been in a relationship with his wife Lucy for 39 years, and the couple have two children together.

However, their love for each other doesn’t necessarily mean their family deserves equal protection under the law, especially if a public mob says otherwise.

Below is a totally unofficial poll, which is advisory in nature and non-binding.

It is not regulated by the laws that govern elections, which means it’s also completely open to fraud and abuse. But we hear that’s fine these days.

Of course, as a natural result of the poll, groups will likely be formed to attack the concept of Malcolm Turnbull getting married.

These campaign groups will be free to claim that schools will force children to learn about Mr Turnbull having sex, or to insist that churches will face closure if they refuse to recognise Mr Turnbull’s marriage.

They could even suggest that Mr Turnbull has ‘stolen’ his children from a more worthy couple.

There will probably be no recourse for these blatant lies, no matter how upsetting they are.

But that’s just a natural result of democracy, and we think it’s really important that everyday people get a say on the family’s basic dignity.

If Mr Turnbull has an issue with that, he should just grin and bear it.

Have your say on whether Malcolm Turnbull deserves the right to marry here:

Don’t like it? Neither do we.

Despite a majority of MPs in support of equal marriage, and despite a majority of Australian people in support of equal marriage, Mr Turnbull has opted to hold an unnecessary, divisive and costly postal vote on the issue – without permission from Parliament.

He does this not because the country’s Constitution requires it as in Ireland, but as a way to get around his own political failings.

The leader was worried that allowing Parliament to push on with equal marriage could lead to a leadership challenge from within his own party, so he decided that the dignity of LGBT families (and $122 million) would be an acceptable cost to stall it.

We believe that same-sex couples are entitled to equal protection under the law, and this includes the same unconditional, unquestioned right to marriage that Mr Turnbull enjoys.

Mr Turnbull wouldn’t want his own family put up for a vote. He should feel ashamed for doing it to others.