Gay ally won’t support marriage

Gay ally won’t support marriage

North Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch will not support same-sex marriage legislation when it’s introduced into federal Parliament next year.

The Leichhardt MP, who this year launched the Parliamentary Friends of LGBTIs with Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Labor’s Graham Perrett, has been a long-standing parliamentary ally of the community, but said that he would not support a change to the Marriage Act or a conscience vote on the issue.

“I’ve been consistent all the way through on this one. There are strong arguments in relation to marriage where you’ll court emotion and controversy,” Entsch told the Star Observer.

“The major issues that I’m wanting to pursue are those of the transgender and intersex community, and that’s the focus.”

“It’s always about the gay and lesbian community and never about the transgender and intersex community. We have to give them a priorty that hasn’t been there before.”

In the lead up to the launch of the parliamentary friendship group in September, Entsch was adamant that it would only look at issues other than same-sex marriage. He said his success in lobbying the Liberal party room to remove discrimination in the past has been due to separating marriage from other issues.

“I said I wouldn’t use my support for change as a Trojan horse for marriage and it was because I made that commitment that the first person who stood up in the party room to support me was Barnaby Joyce,” he said.

“It was the same reason that Bill Heffernan turned up to the Parliamentary Friends launch.”

When asked whether he personally didn’t believe in same-sex marriage aside from issues of division and distraction, Entsch would not be drawn.

“I’m not getting engaged [in same-sex marriage] because of all these other issues. Have a look at the Labor conference, how many issues were raised there about the gender diverse community?” he said.

“There are another group of poor buggers out there that have been completely ignored and I won’t be seen to support [marriage] because then I think I’m breaking my word with a lot of people.”

Entsch said that while he wouldn’t support marriage equality legislation he still strongly supports civil unions.

“I have no hesitation in supporting a national civil union scheme, in fact I offered to sponsor a [civil union] bill earlier in the year and the marriage coalition asked me not to,” he admitted.

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15 responses to “Gay ally won’t support marriage”

  1. Warren Entsch is just covering his own arse. How typical for a politician. He is a right hand dude for Abbott, so don’t expect anything from him. He is a time waster.

  2. What a knob. Are we meant to be grateful that he supports us to sit at the back of the marriage bus in the civil unions secton???

  3. What a pompous arse
    Dictating an agenda on HIS terms
    I don’t care how friendly he is
    A paternalistic ego centric pric
    He’s just like the rest
    We desperately need a
    1)bill of rights
    2)rigourous anti-discrimination legislation
    and a
    3)high court challenge

  4. Warren has been up to this type of duplicitous support / non-support for gays for years…. he wants to *be seen* to be a friend of the poofs. I’ve been in conversation over dinner with him where he recounts many a gay friendly story – always couched with a nervous disposition I might add. He’s told his Lib followers that any more gay law reform (civil union / marriage) is “not a priority and there are many other things to deal with..” After some critical (non-gay related) stories I’d written on CairnsBlog.net about Entsch (his secretary not paying $750,000 in bills to local Cairns businesses and when he spent truckloads on his new website in Brisbane instead of locally), he went around privately and verbalised some good ol homo bashing to all in sundry… calling me, among other things, a “horse’s hoof”, a derogatory term meant to insult. Entsch is nothing but a fraud on gay issues…. a populist that thinks he’s a trailblazer for all things gay.

  5. Why do intersexuals and Transexuals need to be supported instead of gays and lesbians. where is their political muscle?

  6. Ben: Entsch clearly says he will not support marriage equality but the lesser civil unions. Entsch thus supports a version of apartheid for the LGBTQI community. His words of support are merely that – words. If he cannot support marriage equality, then he must stand up in front of every member of our community and explain why.

  7. Ben, I reckon you’re giving Entsch a hall pass where none is deserved.

    If he can stand up personally for civil unions, why can’t he stand up for equal marriage?

    He doesn’t need to “campaign” for it, just vote for it and say so without shame.

    To do this need not trump or diminish any other efforts he may be making towards intersex and transgender rights – indeed, it would enhance them and remove the appearance of flimsy excuses, double standards and wedge politics that are otherwise created by his apparent intransigence on authentic marriage equality.

  8. But he’s not campaigning against marriage. He’s simply not campaigning for it in order to ~successfully~ increase support for us on other fronts. How is respecting that important contribution ‘kissing arse’?

  9. And what’s more when it comes to the vote he won’t be alone, preselections, careers and promotion will all trump marriage equality just mark my words.

  10. We need to stand up and be counted. We have to eliminate people from seats in areas where we have the opportunity and replace them with people of action, not words. We will not get gay marriage until we scare them into it.

  11. There are some seven Liberal MP’s that will cross the floor with a little movement from the leadership that I can recall just off the top my head. The Libertarians gaining voice after many years in the cold.

    It is time for ‘movers and shakers’ to regroup and give time to regroup, and plan strategy.

    For either the Greens or Labor to push a bill prematurely for wedge purposes is malproductive and self serving, and indeed they should be part of a consultative process. While Abbott pushes his, ‘dissolving of barriers’ between church and State agenda, a bill will be still-born.

    There are many Libertarian Gay and Lesbians in the electorates of Hockey and Abbott whom would see and issue of equality that needs addressing. They should be encouraged to give voice.

  12. Bloody hell, the gay and lesbian community kiss the asses of Turnbull and Entsch, but turns out they are just a friendly version of Joe de Bruyn