A marriage equality vote will hurt young people, says comedian

"Speech is not free when it comes at such a cost."

Since it was posted late Wednesday, Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby's heartfelt Facebook update about the potentially harmful impact of Australia's marriage equality plebiscite has been liked more than 10,000 times.

In only a few powerful paragraphs, she sums up exactly why a public vote to determine whether marriage equality should be legalised in Australia is such a dangerous idea.

Describing her own childhood, when the state of Tasmania debated whether to legalise homosexuality in the 1990s, Gadsby said the voices telling people like her they were subhuman or lesser citizens left deep emotional scars. The Tasmanian law criminalising gay men was only overturned in 1997, following a High Court battle.

"I was the age when I should have been learning how to be vulnerable, how to handle a broken heart," she wrote. "Instead I learnt how to close myself off and rot quietly in self-hatred."

There are fears the plebiscite, a non-binding public vote, will promote fringe voices that suggest LGBTQ people are "unnatural" or to be feared, something that could have a heavy impact on vulnerable young people.

The opposition Labor party has called the plebiscite a "taxpayer-funded platform for homophobia."

Labor politician Penny Wong is openly gay and has two young children. She condemned the vote in June, saying she could not permit her relationship or her family to be judged as lesser by the Australian public. "Many commentators on this subject don't understand that for many gay and lesbian Australians hate speech is not abstract, it is part of our every day life," she said.

The Liberal government in power promised a plebiscite would take place as soon as possible after the July Federal election, but reports now indicate it could be pushed into 2017.

Despite the reported cost of the plebiscite (estimated at almost A$160 million), a vote in parliament to formally change the Marriage Act will still be necessary. For Gadsby, that's far too heavy a price to pay for bigotry and homophobia.

In her post, Gadsby said she feared the plebiscite would "be another open season for hate."

"This kind of entertainment will not only ruin young lives…it will end some of them," she wrote.

Mashable Australia has reached out Gadsby for comment.