The Equality Campaign staged a forum in Orange this week as part of a drive by Australian Marriage Equality (AME) and Australians for Equality to achieve marriage equality through the granting of a free vote to federal politicians.

The forums aim to “energise” participants to contact their federal MPs. They have been held across NSW – most recently in Orange on Monday – and others have been scheduled soon for Dubbo, Port Macquarie, Armidale, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour.

Marriage equality is an issue that will not go way.

The Turnbull government’s plan to hold a plebiscite on same-sex marriage was voted down in Parliament last year. Many saw the plebiscite as a way to postpone and avoid a free vote in Parliament, which might have garnered the numbers to pass a marriage equality law.

There was blowback for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who many had hoped would change the Coalition’s stance and hold a free vote. He stuck with a plebiscite.

AME wants to push all federal politicians to bring in a free vote. It says opinion polls show about 70 per cent of Australians support marriage equality.

But AME believes the Nationals are holding the government to an “agreement on the plebsicite”.

Marriage equality will certainly grow as an issue as the election moves closer.

A NSW AME co-ordinator Malcolm McPherson said if the politicians don’t deal with it before the next election “they’re going to have problems”.

Nationals say constituents do not support same-sex marriages and therefore they will not vote for change. Some say they would alter their stance if voters changed their minds.

If the polls are right that blue or white-collar workers in the inner city or the Central West support equality and that it is older people who are more likely to be opposed, that might be a chink in the Nationals’ arguments.

Nationals MPs and Coalition colleagues are already facing potential challenges from candidates for One Nation in three state elections. That is likely to repeat federally.

The determined “noise” from an organised lobby will make their lives even more difficult.