“About five years ago Rachel came out to my wife and myself. It was a very harrowing evening when that happened,” he said. “She was shaking. She was crying uncontrollably. In such a situation it is very difficult to be a parent and to hold your child in your arms.”



Morgan, who has a gay brother, was deeply distressed his daughter had kept her sexuality a secret for so long.

“If that was how Rachel felt, then how are other people feeling? What about those people who don’t have an understanding parent?” he said.

“I asked Rachel about it, and she said, ‘Yes Dad, there are many, many people still out there who have not come out to their nearest and dearest. This is why the referendum is so important.’”

As Australia faces its own nationwide vote on same-sex marriage, many LGBT people and their families are wondering what such a campaign might deliver.