The leader of a right wing group who held a protest against same-sex marriage has blamed the poor turnout on a fear of violence from same-sex marriage advocates.
Australias first Straight Lives Matter rally, organised by The Party for Freedom, was held as a protest against the potential legalisation of same-sex marriage and instead found itself vastly outnumbered by counter-protesters and police tasked with making sure there were no clashes.
While only 33 people had said they were attending on the groups Facebook event page, NSW Police confirmed to news.com.au there were less than 15 people who turned up for the straight lives matter side.
Speaking to news.com.au, Nick Folkes, the head of Party for Freedom, disputed the police count of 15 people, saying there were over 30 people from his party.
Despite that, he still said the number was disappointing.
It was disappointing to see we werent well supported on the day. The pro-marriage supporters can get thousands on the street and we can barely get any. Were the silent majority which is a real shame, he said.
Mr Folkes said the number dispute came down to cameras being at the front of the stage.
There was definitely 30. People didnt stand there because wed block the cameras, he said.
More than 50 same-sex marriage advocates stood on the opposite side of Sydneys Green Park drowning out all of the speeches with chanting and horns.
At one point, an anti-fascist group was heard yelling Nazis, f**k off.
Facebook users have since taken to the rallys event page to slam the poor turnout, with one labelling it as sad and pathetic.
We did count 50+ police however they clearly werent needed as no one really cared to listen to your hateful messages, Edwin Diaz wrote.
The rallys location was a particular controversial one held in Sydneys Green Park which also contains an LGBT holocaust memorial.
Earlier this month, tens of thousands of rainbow-clad supporters of same-sex marriage rallied in Sydney and the rest of the country saw similar numbers.
