Australian Senator says gay men don’t want to marry, cites Dolce & Gabbana
Conservative MP Eric Abetz feels lots and lots of gay men don’t actually want to get married, drawing from a very detailed and qualitative study of the relationship of Italian fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana to reach his hypothesis.
In what must have taken hours of research down in a parliamentary internet kiosk, the Sydney Morning Herald alleges the Federal Senator made the comments after Prime Minister Tony Abbott successfully deferred a legislative push for same-sex marriage, sparking outrage from moderate Liberals and a large contingent of the Australian community in general.
Sources quoted Senator Abetz as telling the Liberal party room during a special meeting yesterday the “view among gays was not uniform”, and that “lots of homosexuals don’t want to get married”, including “Dolce and Gabanna” [who] never got married”.
Abetz, who also suggested ministers in support of adopting marriage equality should resign from their positions, insisted widespread reports about his comments were “simply false” in a statement.
https://twitter.com/SenatorAbetz/status/631261942867333120
“My view is well known. As I said at a public forum in Hobart last week, not all members of the gay community have the same view on this question,” he said.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Senator Abetz was “a clown” when asked about the comments on Wednesday.
“That shows you how out of touch Mr Abbott’s Liberals are,” said Shorten.
“They are so out of touch. I am staggered you have got the most senior, or the second most senior Liberal in the Senate coming up with those sort of half-baked arguments.”
This is not the first time Abetz has expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage.
In July he said Australia should not legalise gay marriage because no Asian country had done so.
“The Labor Party and other journalists tell us time and time again that we are living in the Asian century. Tell me how many Asian countries have redefined marriage,” he said during an ABC radio interview.
He also described marriage equality as “the latest fad” and claimed it would lead to polyamory, while criticising Hobart City Council in June for passing a motion expressing same-sex marriage support.
Back in March, Dolce and Gabanna were slammed by celebrities including Sir Elton John and Courtney Love, after Italian magazine Panorama quoted Dolce for his rejection of gay parenting.
“You are born and you have a father and a mother. Or at least it should be like this, that’s why I am not convinced by chemical children, synthetic babies, wombs for rent,” he said.
The pair later said they were talking about their own opinions and didn’t mean to judge the behaviour of others.
“We believe firmly in democracy and we think freedom of expression is essential for that. We talked about our way of looking at the world, but it was not our intention to express a judgment on other people’s choices. We believe in freedom and love,” Gabbana said in a statement.
Words by TROY NANKERVIS.