Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas, was hit
with a lemon meringue pie in his face during a business breakfast
event in Perth, Australia over his company's support for equal
marriage rights for gay men and lesbians.
While a large majority of Australians
support marriage equality, passage of a marriage bill has eluded
supporters. Qantas has publicly called on the government to approve
a same-sex marriage bill.
Police immediately detained the man,
Tony Overheu, 67.
Overheu described Qantas' support for
same-sex marriage as “corporate bullying aimed at social
engineering.”
“Alan Joyce is paid $13 million
dollars to run airlines not to bulldoze Australia socially against
its will,” Overheu
told reporters. “Qantas is insulting many staff and passengers
with their boarding pass propaganda.”
Overheu is a senior member of the
Church of Christ, though he said that his protest was not about
faith.
Joyce, who is openly gay, told
reporters on Wednesday that “no attempt at bullying us into
suppressing our voice will work.”
Overheu has been charged with common
assault, trespassing and providing false details to police.