Thursday 1 March 2018

More deeply anti gay articles unearthed from deputy PM McCormack's past


More anti-gay hatred has been uncovered from Australia's deputy prime minister Micheal McCormack's time as a newspaper editor in the early 90's.

 I would mention here that a lot of people are pointing out that he voted Yes in the parliamentary vote for marriage equality last year, but to point at that as evidence of a changed man is to me simplistic. He simply followed the vote of his electorate, as many other gov ministers did despite them being opposed to gay marriage. During the postal survey campaign he was firmly on the No side. He also voted strongly against marriage equality in 2012. If he has been such a changed man, then why did he continue to oppose us? Albeit with much less rhetoric.

 It turns out the first article of his from the early 90's that has been published in the media over the last months isn't the only one he wrote. I note that he himself never mentioned the other articles only recently found, in apologising, until they were put to him by today's media. Now he's expanded his apology saying the articles have to be taken in the context of the time.

 But that just doesn't cut it and to me stinks of a politician caught in the headlights trying to weasel his way out of things. The fact is that people back then were up in arms about the above article which was against gays in the military (for US readers, yes that's how long Australia has had gays in the military here). And they protested in correspondence to him. 

 So what did he do? He doubled down on his gay hatred the next week, penning an article refusing to apologise and calling himself a homophobe and declaring he had "no guilt" about what he wrote.
Despite immediately receiving dozens of complaints from readers and gay rights groups, his next column was titled: “I’m not sorry, why should I be?” 

 “I have no pangs of guilt for telling the truth about what gays are doing to the world and the decent people who live in it,” he wrote. “I’ve been labelled homophobic by some of the many people who have been moved to write letters. 

 “Well if homophobic can be taken as an intense fear of homosexuals then that’s fine, call me homophobic ... If something isn’t done and done quickly to prevent homosexuals getting rights they don’t deserve then God help us.” 

 An editorial on 11 September argued against proposed legislation to prevent the vilification of gay people. 
 “Homosexuals want to be accepted as part of society, yet want special treatment,” he wrote. “If this had been passed now, what further ‘favouritism’ would these people get in future?” The Guardian



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