"A plebiscite designed to deny me and many other Australians a marriage certificate will instead license hate speech to those who need little encouragement," she said. Penny Wong and partner Sophie Allouache after the birth of their daughter Alexandra in 2011. "Mr Turnbull, and many commentators on this subject, don't understand that for gay and lesbian Australians hate speech is not abstract. It's real. It's part of our everyday life." Senator Wong said she did not doubt the "good sense" of the Australian people, but knew from bitter personal experience that opponents would seek to denigrate gay and lesbian relationships like the one she shares with partner Sophie Allouache. "I oppose a plebiscite because I do not want my relationship, my family, to be the subject of inquiry, of censure, of condemnation, by others. And I don't want other relationships, other families, to be targeted either," Senator Wong said.

It was not just hate speech directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, but physical violence that still occurred in Australia today, she told a packed Australian National University audience. Labor Senator Penny Wong has expressed concern for Australia's LGBTQI population. Credit:Graham Tidy "Many same-sex couples don't hold hands on the street because they don't know what reaction they'll get. Some hide who they are for fear of the consequences at home, at work, at school," Senator Wong said. "Not one straight politician advocating a plebiscite on marriage equality knows what that is like. What it is like to live with the casual and deliberate prejudice that some still harbour." As Australia's most prominent openly gay politician, Senator Wong has often been challenged on Labor's slow path toward supporting marriage equality. Her Lionel Murphy lecture represents her most personal and passionate public advocacy on the issue to date.