Penny Wong sparks uproar on Easter Sunday with single social media post about ‘Transgender Day of Visibility’
Penny Wong has caused a stir on Easter Sunday with a seemingly innocent social media post.
The Foreign Minister shared a photo of the blue, purple and white striped transgender flag on Sunday to mark the International Transgender Day of Visibility, celebrated on March 31.
“The Albanian Labor Government stands with trans and gender diverse people across Australia,” the caption read.
“On this #TDOV, we celebrate your strength and courage – and we pledge to once again champion gender diversity in the pursuit of equality.”
However, the comments on the post were flooded with people questioning the timing.
This is despite Senator Wong wishing her 115,000 Instagram followers a ‘Happy Easter’ just hours earlier.
“On Resurrection Sunday?” someone wrote.
“This is obscenely disrespectful and sacrilege on any day.”
Penny Wong (pictured) has caused a stir with a seemingly innocent social media post
The Minister of Foreign Affairs shared a photo of the blue, purple and white striped transgender flag on Sunday on the occasion of International Transgender Day of Visibility (photo)
Before posting about Transgender Day of Visibility, Penny Wong shared a happy Easter message
Another accused Senator Wong of “blasphemy.”
“Shame on you, penny,” they wrote.
‘You want tolerance and respect, but you can’t do it to Christians on one of the holiest days on our calendar? I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
In Christian scriptures, Easter Sunday was the day of Jesus’ resurrection after he was sacrificed on the cross.
Transgender Day of Visibility was not intentionally designed to fall on Easter Sunday. It has been celebrated on the same date for years, March 31. The date of Easter changes every year.
Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon after the spring equinox, between March 22 and April 25. Last year it fell on April 9 and in 2022 on April 17.
But the comments under the post were flooded with people questioning the timing of the post
However, not all reactions were negative.
“I love that all the so-called Christians are getting worked up,” one commenter wrote.
‘At a time when they need to show love for everyone. Don’t they understand that you can still celebrate Easter at the same time?’
Senator Wong’s earlier post ‘Happy Easter’ was flooded with criticism, but for a different reason.
This time, commentators criticized the Labor government’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
However, not all reactions were negative
Similar comments were also made on the Transgender Day of Visibility post.
“This trans person doesn’t really care about your empty words, while your actions show you care very little about humanity,” one wrote.
Another said: ‘I’m trans and I think you’re a cowardly, genocidal enabler.’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Easter message, released earlier on Sunday, had an explicitly Christian theme.
“Happy Easter Australia,” the Prime Minister said in a recorded video.
‘Easter is a time of hope and renewal. For Christians here and around the world, it is a time to reflect on the resurrection.
“Celebrations and services across the country remind us of the importance of forgiveness, mercy and kindness to those in need, qualities that are so much part of the compassion and virtue of this, the greatest country on earth.”
Senator Wong, 55, has long been an outspoken supporter of LGBTQ+ causes.
She burst into tears when Australians voted to legalize same-sex marriage in 2017.
Earlier this month, she married her longtime partner Sophie Allouache in a low-key ceremony in her home state of South Australia.
The couple share two young daughters, Alexandra, 11, and Hannah, eight.