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Qantas Airline Chief Gets Pie In The Face Over Marriage Equality Support

Alan Joyce is one of the world's few openly gay CEOs.

The head of Australia's Qantas Airlines, Alan Joyce, got hit with a pie in the face on Tuesday by a man who opposes Joyce's support for marriage equality.

Joyce, one of the world's few out CEOs, has been an outspoken advocate for equal marriage Down Under. He was at an event in Perth when Tony Overheu, a 67-year-old farmer, walked on stage and smashed a lemon meringue pie into his face.

"Alan Joyce is a very active individual in this process [toward marriage equality] and in that context he was appropriate" to target, Overheu told the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC).

"I've never done that sort of thing, I'm a law-abiding person, but I think this is part of inevitable pushback. When the community is grumpy, figures who are overstepping the line have got to anticipate there will be pushback in some shape or form. The broad community have had a gutful."

Hugh Peterswald/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

QANTAS CAMPUS, SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA - 2016/02/23: Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce announced a record financial result, the best in its 95-year history. Qantas reported an underlying profit before tax of A$921 million for the six months ended 31 December 2015. (Photo by Hugh Peterswald/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Overheu has been charged with providing false details, but Joyce says he intends to file assault charges. The incident, he insists, hasn't deterred him from addressing social issues.

"I've long held the view that there is a role for companies and CEOs to speak up on economic and social issues. My opinion on this has not changed."

In March, he and 20 other CEOs signed a letter in support of marriage equality.

"We'll continue to speak about important social issues including indigenous reconciliation, gender diversity and marriage equality, because it's the right thing to do."

The assault strangely echoes an incident from 40 years ago, when anti-LGBT activist Anita Bryant was pied in the face at a event in Des Moines because of her efforts to overturn anti-discrimination ordinances and her claims that homosexuals recruit children.

You have to wonder if Overheu is aware of the irony.

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