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Christian lobbyists cancel meeting against same-sex marriage after safety threats in Australia

Christian groups in Australia were forced to cancel an upcoming meeting at a hotel regarding same-sex marriage after staff reportedly received threatening phone calls.

Four Christian groups, the Sydney Anglicans, Sydney Catholics, Marriage Alliance and the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), were supposed to meet at the Mercure Sydney Airport Hotel on Tuesday but the organizers decided to call off the discussion after a backlash against the hotel.

Poster for same-sex marriage rally in Melbourne | Wikimedia Commons/David Jackmanson

"We have chosen to reconsider our arrangements for the event next week due to our concern for the safety of the hotel staff, and our commitment to a reasonable and respectful debate," says Lyle Shelton, managing director of ACL.

The meeting was supposed to be in preparation for a "no" campaign in the potential plebiscite on marriage equality. The Australian Cabinet is planning to hold the plebiscite on Feb. 11 next year. The Cabinet will also discuss the allocation of public funds for both "yes" and "no" campaigns.

The hotel had to shut down its Facebook page after it received negative comments from marriage-equality advocates. The hotel employees later reported to the company's headquarters that they had received "negative" phone calls.

"We've conducted an objective review regarding the safety and security of our hotel guests and staff," said a spokeswoman for the hotel. "Following this review the event will no longer take place next week," she continued.

The hotel did not confirm whether the phone calls included death threats.

The backlash began when an activist called the establishment to cancel the event, alleging that one of the event organizers is directly targeting transgender children.

"Holding an event by a group that directly targets trans children and other LGBTI children, repeatedly compromising their safety in attempts to cluster-bomb the entire LGBTI community, means that this hotel, this city and this country are not safe spaces for anyone," the activist wrote on Facebook.

Samesame reported that the hotel's rating dropped to 2.9 after gay-marriage advocates posted one-star reviews on its Facebook page.