relationships

The helpline that will save you from those awkward conversations with relatives this Christmas.

Hey you! Yes, YOU!

Are you a young progressive-type fretting over your impending family Christmas obligations?

Do you spend most of your year living in a pleasant bubble of like-minded individuals, talking frankly about politics and lamenting your country’s backwards attitude to its LGBTIQ community?

Well, we’ve got some good news.

The Australian Greens have launched a Marriage Equality Holiday Helpline to guide you through those tricky conversations with conservative relatives this festive season.

It’s essentially a ‘textbot’ that will send you counter-arguments to common misconceptions about same-sex marriage.

Picture this: You’re sitting opposite your auntie Jude and she’s just spouted some daft thing about Safe Schools breeding tiny Marxists that she read in The Australian last week.

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Now, instead of flinging your turkey across the table in frustration as one is usually wont to do in such a situation, you calmly place your fork on your plate and reach for you smart phone.

You shoot off a single text saying “#SOS” and suddenly you’ve got an arsenal of facts at your disposable and you and Jude have quickly gone from mutual eye-rolling to a constructive chat on the merits of marriage equality.

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The idea is to help transform the public debate, one chat at a time, by changing the minds of those closest to you.

As Greens senator Janet Rice explained to BuzzFeed News:

“We’ve all been part of a conversation that very quickly takes a turn that’s not very joyful – and often we’re caught off guard.

“This way, if you end up at an event with a rello who’s channelling Andrew Bolt, at least you’ll have someone on your side!”

The Holiday Helpline launches Wednesday and you can sign up here.