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Tony Abbott, who opposes marriage equality, was not seriously injured but used the incident to paint supporters as violent.
A marriage equality supporter in Australia probably didn't help the cause when he head-butted former Prime Minister Tony Abbott Thursday.
Abbott, an opponent of marriage equality, was walking down a street in Hobart, the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania, when he encountered the man, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
"A fellow sung out at me 'Hey, Tony,' I turned around, there was a chap wearing a vote 'Yes' badge," he said. "He says, 'I want to shake your hand.' I went over to shake his hand and he head-butted me."
Australia is in the midst of a postal poll on marriage equality. Citizens have until November 7 to mail in ballots with a yes or no vote on legalizing same-sex marriage. The poll will not change the law, however; Parliament will still have to act on the matter, taking the postal vote into consideration.
Abbott is urging a no vote. When he was prime minister, he said that any change in the nation's marriage law should come through a plebiscite -- a popular vote by citizens in which participation would be mandatory. The postal vote is voluntary.
Abbott said his only injury was "a very, very slightly swollen lip" and that the assailant "briefly grappled" with a staffer accompanying the former prime minister and "then ran off, swearing his head off, basically."
Tasmanian police are investigating the incident; Abbott made a formal complaint only when the police contacted him after seeing media coverage, the Herald reports. But he used the attack to paint marriage equality supporters as more violent than opponents.
"The ugliness is not coming from the defenders of marriage as it's always been understood," he said. "The ugliness, the intolerance and indeed in this instance, the hint of violence is coming from those who tell us, in the name of decency and fair-mindedness and freedom, we've got to allow same-sex marriage."
He added, "It was just very disconcerting to find the love is love brigade, or a least someone who was advocating a yes vote, should under the guise of wanting to shake your hand, in fact try to give you a so-called Liverpool kiss."
Marriage equality supporters, though, condemned the attack. "We condemn the violence against Tony Abbott that has been reported tonight," said a statement released Thursday by the Equality Campaign. "There is never a place for violence or abuse. Marriage Equality is about respect and dignity for every Australian. There is no room for any disrespect either physical or verbal in this national debate. Our campaign has always and will continue to call for respect and everyone involved in this debate to act in a respectful and dignified way."
Member of Parliament Alex Greenwich, who released the Equality Campaign statement, noted that there has been violence against marriage equality proponents as well. Earlier this month, another former prime minister, Kevin Rudd, said his godson was punched out at a bus stop for being a supporter, and he posted a picture on Instagram of the young man, showing his face bloodied.
"It is deeply unfortunate that there has been this incident," Greenwich told the Herald of the attack on Abbott. "It was deeply unfortunate that there was the incident against Kevin Rudd's godson, who was a supporter of same-sex marriage."
Marriage equality supporters had warned that any type of popular vote on the issue would lead to anti-LGBT campaigning. And it has, with opponents saying same-sex marriage would have consequences such as compulsory cross-dressing for children. And former tennis star Margaret Court, now a Pentecostal minister, recently said marriage equality would mean the end of Christmas and other major holidays.
