- Roxon admits mistakes over homophobia
- The Age - AAP
- 27/11/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 264 articles in 2008 )
Health Minister Nicola Roxon has admitted making a mistake in appointing a men's health ambassador who held offensive anti-gay views.
Two of the ambassadors, appointed on Tuesday, are listed as co-authors of a paper that suggests gay people are more likely to molest children than heterosexuals.
Ms Roxon sacked one of the men - Warwick Marsh - after he refused to repudiate the article, but the other ambassador - Barry Williams - will retain his role after publicly dissociating himself from the anti-gay views.
It was inappropriate to have someone with such offensive views talking to men about their health, Ms Roxon said.
The minister accepted full responsibility for the failure to check Mr Marsh's background, saying it was a mistake.
"Certainly I will improve my processes in the future."
Ms Roxon does not think the incident will damage the government's standing with the gay community.
"These are not my views and are not the government's views," she said.
The government was in the process of removing commonwealth discrimination against same-sex couples.
"I am very proud of the record that the government has and... I hope that the gay community will see this for the mistake it was."
Openly gay senator Bob Brown accused Ms Roxon of having form when it came to discriminating against gays.
"Nicola was the Labor shadow minister who told a cheering throng... in 2004 that Labor would lead the charge to ban gay marriage and prodded the Howard government into legislating to discriminate against same-sex couples," he told reporters.
© 2008 AAP
Two of the ambassadors, appointed on Tuesday, are listed as co-authors of a paper that suggests gay people are more likely to molest children than heterosexuals.
Ms Roxon sacked one of the men - Warwick Marsh - after he refused to repudiate the article, but the other ambassador - Barry Williams - will retain his role after publicly dissociating himself from the anti-gay views.
It was inappropriate to have someone with such offensive views talking to men about their health, Ms Roxon said.
The minister accepted full responsibility for the failure to check Mr Marsh's background, saying it was a mistake.
"Certainly I will improve my processes in the future."
Ms Roxon does not think the incident will damage the government's standing with the gay community.
"These are not my views and are not the government's views," she said.
The government was in the process of removing commonwealth discrimination against same-sex couples.
"I am very proud of the record that the government has and... I hope that the gay community will see this for the mistake it was."
Openly gay senator Bob Brown accused Ms Roxon of having form when it came to discriminating against gays.
"Nicola was the Labor shadow minister who told a cheering throng... in 2004 that Labor would lead the charge to ban gay marriage and prodded the Howard government into legislating to discriminate against same-sex couples," he told reporters.
© 2008 AAP
Source: https://news.theage.com.au/national/roxon-admits-mistakes-over-homophobia-20081127-6j1j.html
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