A woman in Australia said a stranger in a park in Melbourne tried to kick her dog because he was wearing a marriage equality bandana.

Claire Sutherland said her dog Mack was sporting the equality bandana in support of the "Yes" campaign, which is encouraging Australians to vote in support of marriage equality in the postal survey that's currently underway.

But in a piece for The Herald Sun, Sutherland describes the moment that someone with opposing views took his homophobia to a whole new low.

"Mack was running around the oval and approached a man walking alone," she wrote about her dog's experience while out with their dog walker. "He didn’t rush him or jump on him, but to my dog sitter’s absolute astonishment, the man did what thankfully turned out to be a fresh air kick at Mack."

"He then turned to our dog sitter, abusing her with homophobic slurs," she added. "He called her a 'perverted fucking poofter,' a degenerate and dangerous, while referencing the same-sex marriage survey."

Sutherland went on to question how Australia has reached the "shouting at dogs" stage of the equality debate.

"And yet here we are," she wrote, "where an idiot in a park seems to be laboring under the misapprehension that a dog can tie a bandana around his own neck, and may decide to put his paw print in the No box if only he’s kicked hard enough."

The postal survey was mailed out earlier this month and the results will be announced on November 15.