WCF Melbourne conference organiser supports a global, Russian-style ban on “gay propaganda”

WCF Melbourne conference organiser supports a global, Russian-style ban on “gay propaganda”

THE Melbourne-based organiser of the recent World Congress of Families conference has said she supports the recent statement by the Moscow International Forum calling for a global ban on “gay propaganda”.

The statement was issued by delegates in Moscow at the end of the conference last week, and promotes the ban alongside a number of other measures in support of “natural families”, which specifically exclude LGBT people.

Russia’s ban on so-called “homosexual propaganda” to minors last year has been internationally condemned, and linked to a rise in homophobic violence in the country.

Convenor of the recent WCF Melbourne conference Babette Francis is also the founder of the conservative women’s organisation Endeavour Forum. She attended the Moscow event and told the Star Observer she supported the statement.

“In general terms I would say I support it and at our next meeting I am hopeful our (the Endeavour Forum) committee will also endorse it,” she said.

Francis was until recently the vice president of the Melbourne branch of the National Party.

The Moscow conference was originally organised under the banner of the US-based World Congress of Families, but the WCF withdrew its support earlier in the year following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The recent Melbourne conference was a regional satellite event of the WCF, and attracted significant public attention over the planned attendance of a number of high profile politicians, including federal Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews and Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark.

Both were scheduled to speak at the event, but pulled out at the last minute when the conference venue was moved to the home of Catch the Fire Ministries.

In a statement, Andrews associated Catch the Fire with “intolerance”, but neither he nor Clark have offered public criticism of the World Congress of Families or the conference itself.

The Star Observer has contacted the offices of Andrews and Clark to ask whether they support the position of the WCF Melbourne conference organisers on a global rollout of gay propaganda laws.

You May Also Like

2 responses to “WCF Melbourne conference organiser supports a global, Russian-style ban on “gay propaganda””

  1. If you’re gonna criticize the man you could at least spell his name correctly and get his gender correct Denis not Dennise! Even that is Denise misspelt

  2. Dennise Napthine seems very dishonest expunging some records on one hand, while keeping the Chief Law Maker, Attorney General Robert Clark, who has associated himself with a group that seeks to imprison GLBTI people. Surely Mr Napthine is not genuine.