Jim Wallace Australian marriage equality advocates are steaming after the head of the Australian Christian Lobby said smoking is healthier than same-sex relationships. "I think we're going to owe smokers a big apology when the homosexual community's own statistics for its health - which it presents when it wants more money for health - are that is has higher rates of drug-taking, of suicide, it has the life of a male reduced by up to 20 years," Jim Wallace said at a University of Tasmania debate. Australian Marriage Equality national convener Alex Greenwich says Wallace has made it clear that the Christian Lobby is basing its campaign against equality on fear rather than facts. “To salvage what limited creditably he has left, Mr Wallace should apologise for the damage that such extreme comments would have on vulnerable gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex young people,” he says. Mr Greenwich says Prime Minister Julia Gillard should also seriously reconsider giving the keynote address at the Australian Christian Lobby conference in October: “For the sake of the many proud LGBTI members of the Labor Party, the Prime Minister should seriously reconsider giving this increasingly extreme group any credibility.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 6th September 2012 - 10:17am