After Grant’s November wedding to his partner Jade Phillips, the Sydney man decided to go against tradition and take his wife’s last name.
“There are so many reasons as to why this is the right decision for Jade and I, not the least being that Jade is one of two girls without any cousins, and therefore their name will be lost after this generation,” Grant explained in an Instagram post in December.
Grant said at the time he was aware a lot of people would see his decision as “emasculating”, but what he couldn’t be prepared for is the inexplicable fury it would generate in total strangers.
Yes, while we thought this gesture was incredibly sweet and the work of a strong, self-confident and forward-thinking man, there were people who, after Grant’s social media announcement made international headlines, decided to send him disgusting messages of hate.
In one of the messages Grant received, a stranger calls him a “f–king pussy” and wishes he and his wife would “die in a car crash”.
Really?
Thankfully for as many hateful messages Mrs and Mr Phillips have received, there have been messages of support and encouragement from people who think what he’s done is enlightened, and even those who plan to do the same thing one day.
Grant, meanwhile, thinks his critics’ point of view is the kind he’s happy to go against.
“Each to their own I guess. I, on the other hand, believe this is a sad perspective based on an understanding of an outdated tradition which centres around ownership.”
“For me, I’m honoured that Jade would like me to take her name.”
LISTEN: In other marriage news, 2017 was the year Australia finally legalised marriage equality.
Top Comments
I think it's a great idea to keep the family name going. My husband and I have a daughter and two sons. One son has no children and the other has a daughter so unfortunately the family name will not be passed on which I think is a real shame.
Good on him.
Oh this country is so damn backwards. For my first child, I was told at the ultrasound I was having a boy, a girl came out so she spent the first 6 weeks of her life in blue clothing and blankets. Everywhere I took her, no one said a word. I gave her a unisex name and everyone exclaimed “what a lovely name”, she’s so cute. NO ONE questioned the blue.
I had my second child recently, a lovely boy, and ofcourse used some of my daughters hand me downs. One day I put a pink muslin over the pram and went to run errands. 3 people asked me why I put a pink muslin on if he was a boy (the guy at Bupa, the GP and the guy at the bank). I also gave my son a unisex name (named after a male friend of ours) and had about 10 people say “isn’t that a girls name”?
Double standards anyone?