Family First are bigots first, says candidate for Adelaide

Media statement – August 9, 2010

Family First are bigots first, says candidate for Adelaide

Gemma Weedall, Socialist Alliance candidate for Adelaide, condemned Family First’s Wendy Francis likening the legalisation of same-sex parenting to the legalisation of child abuse, as “homophobic” and “an incitement to more violence against lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and queer people”.

“The one thing we can thank Wendy Francis for is her outing of her misnamed Family First party as one of the many bigoted and intolerant parties that will be contesting this election for the Senate in several states, including in South Australia.

“However, tolerant people have a duty to stand up to the parties promoting such an archaic prejudice.

“For decades the LGBTQI communities have had to struggle for their rights. From the most basic, such as holding a march in the streets in 1978, to the campaign for equal marriage and adoption rights of today.

“Survey after survey has shown that gay couples are just as adept as heterosexual couples at raising children. A 2009 report to the NSW parliament on same-sex adoption confirmed this.

“There are now 10 countries supporting equal marriage rights and there is no evidence that those couples' children suffer more emotional abuse than do children of heterosexual couples.

“There is evidence, however, that children will suffer emotional abuse if their parents are denied rights available to other members of society.

“Family First’s spokesperson sounds like those protagonists from the bygone apartheid era who warned that ‘mixed marriages’ would lead to children being abused.

“This bigoted nonsense has no place in a human rights-minded society, let alone in Australian parliaments.

“The Liberal Party deserves to be condemned as well: their Senate preferences go directly to this ‘Bigots First’ party in South Australia.”

Ms Weedall will address the Adelaide March for Equality rally this Saturday, August 14th, which is happening at 1pm at Parliament House as part of actions taking place nationally on this day calling for equal marriage rights for same sex couples.

Ms Weedall will also participate in an electoral forum on the issues of Marriage Equality and Equal Rights, to be held on Monday August 16th from 6pm at the University of Adelaide’s Napier Building.

Media enquiries: Gemma Weedall on 0437 714 786 or Ruth Ratcliffe on 0403 679 742

More information on Gemma Weedall and the South Australian Socialist Alliance Senate team:
http://www.socialist-alliance.org/page.php?page=959