This Man’s Plea Asking His Parents to Support Gay Marriage Didn’t Change Their Minds, But It Did Go Viral

Australian actor Barnaby Reiter penned an open letter to his parents during the country’s vote on same-sex marriage. After sharing on social media, the actor’s heartbreaking plea went viral.

Reiter shared the letter on his Instagram alongside the caption: “An open letter to my ‘No’ voting parents”.

“It hasn’t been an easy time here in the Reiter family but this is a letter I gave to my parents in the hopes they would change their minds – to no success,” he admits. “I hesitated sharing this but thought it might help anyone else feeling similar in what has become a truly dark time in Australian history. I know I have the love and support of my extended family and friends. Always here if anyone needs to talk.’

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In the letter, Reiter writes: “I know you both care about me and you’ve both given me everything I could ever hope for — up to but not including the ability to feel safe and comfortable in my own skin in our home environment.”

An open letter to my “No” voting parents ✉️ • It hasn’t been an easy time here in the Reiter family but this is a letter I gave to my parents in the hopes they would change their minds – to no success. I hesitated sharing this but thought it might help anyone else feeling similar in what has become a truly dark time in Australian history. I know I have the love and support of my extended family and friends. Always here if anyone needs to talk ❤️????

A post shared by Barnaby T. M. Reiter (@barnabyreiter) on Nov 6, 2017 at 11:18pm PST

“But. Please know that if you choose to tick the ‘no’ box you will not be invited to my wedding. You can’t have it both ways.”

He added: “When you read that question I don’t want you to see it as ‘Do you support changing the marriage act to include same-sex couples?’ I want it to really say ‘Will you be attending the inevitable wedding of your son and the man of his dreams/father of his children and their life thereafter?’”

Reiter then ended the letter by writing: “Choose carefully, because as you’ve always taught me: ‘Life is a series of choices.’”

The mail survey asking Australians to vote on marriage equality ended Tuesday, November 7.

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The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reportedly received some 12.6 million ballots before the deadline, with more than 78.5% of eligible voters returning theirs by Friday, November 3.

Official results from the survey are expected on November 15. It’s not legally binding, but will make it easier for lawmakers to introduce equal marriage legislation in parliament.