Christians attack gays

Christians attack gays

Religious parties Family First and Fred Nile’s Christian Democrats have attacked the gay and lesbian community this week in a last-ditch effort to win support from conservative voters.

On Tuesday Family First senate candidate John Lewis said the lesbian Liberal candidate for Brisbane, Ingrid Tall, was not getting his party’s preferences because she did not fit the profile of a basic family unit.

People have a right of choice of lifestyle. However, we are not going to support these people because we don’t agree with that lifestyle, Lewis said. We don’t think that’s unfair.

His comments came a day after a Family First volunteer in Brisbane answered yes when asked whether the party supported lesbians being burnt to death. A Family First spokesperson said the man had been disciplined over the matter and banned from volunteer duties.

Family First is also refusing to swap preferences with Queensland Liberal candidate Warren Entsch because he supports gay marriage. Family First is giving preferences to all other Liberal candidates.

On the weekend Christian Democratic Party senate candidate Fred Nile ran radio and print ads in NSW slamming the Greens for supporting same-sex marriage and linking their policy for equal age of consent with paedophilia.

Good news for paedophiles. The Greens want to classify teenagers as adults, the newspaper ads read. In state parliament the Greens have lowered the age of consent -“ including sodomy -“ to 16 -¦ It must bring a smile to child-abusers in every suburb.

Another ad said: One woman. One man. Children understand what marriage is but the Greens need help. Marriage will protect children. But who will protect marriage?

Greens leader Bob Brown said he was surprised by the CDP’s commercials. I think some of the advertising in the last few days from the extreme religious right has been lower than I expected. It’s so extraordinary -¦ and un-Christian.

Brown told ABC Radio program The World Today the NSW legislation that made the age of consent equal was common right around the world and simply removed discrimination toward homosexuals.

Greens senate candidate John Kaye said the notion that the Greens support paedophilia was beyond ludicrous.

Rob McGrory of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby believes it’s the kind of ill-informed, out-of-touch nonsense Fred Nile has spouted for many, many years now.

And Family First, McGrory said, was finally showing its true colours and true agenda. It’s been suggested they’re trying to hide their more extreme elements, and it’s important people realise just exactly what they stand for, he said.

The Rights Lobby today released the results of their political survey where they asked the coalition, ALP, Democrats and Greens a range of questions on LGBTI issues.

The coalition’s failure to respond to the survey sends a very strong message about how the Liberal and National parties feel about these important issues, McGrory said.

Labor has come a very long way with their LGBTI policies, he said, though they’re still behind the Democrats and the Greens. McGrory said the areas the ALP needs to improve are on the issues of same-sex marriage, federal recognition of same-sex families, and equal service provisions.

Saturday’s election was going to be important for the LGBTI community because if the coalition wins we’ll get nothing but continued attacks, McGrory said. Under Labor there’s potential for some really significant change.

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