Lib MP’s anti-discrimination push

Warren Entsch, one of the five Liberal backbenchers who called for same-sex civil unions last year, has written to all commonwealth parliamentarians asking for support to end anti-gay discrimination.Entsch, a Liberal MP from Queensland, wrote to MPs this week, saying he was alarmed to discover the extent of the discrimination that exists in federal government legislation, The Australian reported.Entsch called for the reform of legislation that discriminated against gay men and lesbians, including public sector superannuation law that fails to recognise same-sex partnerships.The federal government pledged to fix the super law two years ago.Quite frankly, I find this disappointing, Enstch wrote.We have responsibility to eliminate any legal discrimination from our statues whenever it is identified and this includes discrimination directed at individuals on the basis of their sexuality or their interdependency.Entsch was one of five Liberal backbenchers who called for same-sex civil unions last December.Prime minister John Howard said at the time he was opposed to civil unions but supported the removal of anti-gay discrimination from other areas of the law.But in Ireland this week, Howard called gay marriage activists minority fundamentalists.