Australian Christian Lobby head Lyle Shelton has explained how same-sex marriages can affect heterosexual males like him, saying some people might think he is gay. He also claimed that the government has reached out to his organisation.

In an interview with Sky News on Monday, Shelton said that contrary to arguments, gay marriages affect non-homosexual males like him. A change to the definition of marriage, which currently is a legal union between a man and woman in Australia, would mean some people might assume heterosexual men aren’t married to women anymore.

“That affects me straight away,” he insisted. “People no longer assume I am married to a woman. I have to explain myself.”

“So you’re worried that people may think you’re gay if the law changes?” presenter Patricia Karvelas asked, to which he replied people “may or may not.”

“But certainly, the terms of my marriage have changed, and of the millions of other marriages in Australia,” Shelton said.

The ACL is opposed to the legalisation of same-sex marriage, arguing that children need a mother and a father. Shelton said the government has reached out to the organisation and other groups.

“I would expect that equal funding would be provided to both sides as there is to any normal referendum, or in this case, plebiscite” he said. A fair debate, he added, would allow members of both sides to speak freely without being labelled, in their case, as “homophobes” or “bigots.”

Australian Equality party candidate Jason Tuazon-McCheyne said the government should not offer funding to either sides of the same-sex marriage argument. He said a plebiscite would be dangerous to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) members.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has allocated $160 million for a popular vote on marriage equality. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has urged the government to drop the plebiscite and allow members to vote on the issue in the parliament instead.

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