Members of the homosexual community who are critical of the ACL have taken to the Hyatt Hotel Canberra Facebook page, using the review system to give the Hyatt negative feedback for hosting the lobby group.

The co-ordinated attack doesn’t hold back, with “Pearl clutching, haters, bigots, faeces, racist, and cult” some of the words used, while others have likened the ACL to the Klu Klux Klan and neo-Nazis.

ACL Managing Director Lyle Shelton said he and ACL staff were grieved by the things they read on the website.

“Apart from being untrue, this is very distressing to me, my staff and our families.”

“It would be a sad day for free speech and tolerance if promoting marriage was no longer allowed,” Mr Shelton said.

The ACL has responded by encouraging their supporters to submit positive, 5-star reviews on the Hyatt Canberra Facebook page, countering the negative feedback from the LGBTI community.

“We felt that where there was hate and vitriol, we wanted to send some love to Hyatt.”

Not everyone Christian who has left a comment on the page has followed their instructions though, with some choosing instead to use Facebook to criticise the LGBTI community.

“You can’t control what people will write,” says Lyle. “We wanted people to simply send some love to the Hyatt and where there’s been some terrible hatred and bile and awful and untrue things said, we just wanted to rebalance some of that, and for the Hyatt to see that kind and generous response.”

Maroubra’s Hope Uniting Church Minister, Michael Hercock thinks there might be another way for Christians to respond. Hercock founded 100 Revs in 2008, a lobby group of Christian ministers seeking a friendlier attitude towards the LGBTI community.

“I would remind [Christians and the ACL] that Jesus says when your enemy slaps you in the face, to turn the other cheek.

“I don’t think tit for tat is the way Jesus operated. And sometimes, his approach includes being silent and misrepresented.”

The storm on social media has put the Hyatt, and the ACL conference keynote speaker, Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, in a difficult position. The Hyatt can’t lawfully refuse a group they may well disagree with (in fact, The Hyatt is a “proud partner” of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association and has been voted one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality”), while Bill Shorten is pro-gay marriage. A spokesperson for Mr Shorten today said “he does not always agree with all of the views of those organisations he speaks to” but that “it is important for the Leader of the Opposition to speak to the Australian community about what he believes and what Labor’s priorities are.”

Mr Shorten has confirmed he still plans to speak at the conference, and will use his platform to “make his position clear”.