Tony Abbott and family
Australia's conservative leader Tony Abbott (C) stands with his wife Margaret (2nd L) and daughters (L-R) Frances, Louise and Bridget as he claims victory in Australia's federal election during an election night function in Sydney September 7, 2013. Reuters/Rob Griffith/Pool

Her father might be vehemently opposed to same-sex marriage, but Frances Abbott is voting “yes.” Former prime minister Tony Abbott’s second daughter has proudly declared she is in favour of marriage equality in Australia, even encouraging her followers to vote yes in the postal survey.

On Friday, Frances posted a photo of herself on her Instagram fitness page wearing a white t-shirt from MiaMuse that read “vote yes.” (See embedded image below.) She said that while she didn’t care for politics, she cared about this particular issue.

“YES PLEASE,” she wrote with heart emojis. “I don’t really care much for politics. But I do really care a lot for love. All love is good. Let’s celebrate it.” She added the hashtags #voteyes, #postalvote, #marriageequality, #notintopolitics, #butsayingitanyway and #yesyesyes among many others.

Her father, on the other hand, is a strong opponent of gay marriage. Abbott proposed a referendum on same-sex marriage before he was succeeded by Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister. Even now, he has been urging people to vote “no” in the postal survey.

He has also been engaged in a public discourse with his sister, Sydney Councillor Christine Forster, who is openly gay and supports marriage equality. Forster recently accused her brother of using her divorce to drive an anti-gay marriage point.

Abbott said in a radio interview that his sister privately “joked” that she had just got herself out of her marriage, and so why would she want to rush into another one. Forster had been married for 20 years when she left her husband in 2008. They have two adult daughters together. She is now living with her partner, Virginia Edwards.

“Anyone who’s been through a marriage breakdown will know that’s a terrible traumatic process, certainly not something that I joke about, then or now,” she told 2GB in August. Although she and her brother have differing stances on marriage equality, she said the issue has not split their family.

Forster commended her niece Frances for coming out in support of the issue. There’s no word from Abbott yet about her daughter’s opposing position.

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