Victorian Premier calls for Liberal candidate Aaron Lane to step down over homophobic tweets
VICTORIAN Premier Denis Napthine has called for a Liberal candidate for November’s state election to stand down, following revelations today of homophobic posts on the candidate’s social media accounts.
In a series of tweets obtained by News Corp Australia, Liberal upper house candidate for the Western Region Aaron Lane reportedly used the term “faggots”, including in one tweet that says “shirts are for faggots”.
In another tweet Lane said: “The problem is (IMO) many homos make their sexuality a defining aspect of their being.”
The Premier called for Lane to step down this morning, and said the issue would be dealt with later today by the party administration.
“I believe that it’s time for Mr Lane to step down,” Napthine said.
“There is no place in my team or in the Coalition team for this sort of behaviour and these sorts of comments.”
The Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby praised the Premier’s response, and called on all parties to keep homophobic language out of the Victorian election campaign.
“Homophobic slurs have no place in our society, let alone from a candidate for public office,” the lobby’s co-convenor Corey Irlam told the Star Observer.
“We applaud the Premier’s call for this candidate to step down and the Premier’s affirmation that there is no place for such behaviour in his team. We call upon all parties to declare homophobic language or behaviour will not form part of this year’s election campaign.”
The Liberal Party has also condemned Lane’s social media remarks, with Liberal State Director Damien Mantach calling the comments “inappropriate and offensive”.
“The party takes these matters very seriously,” he said in a statement.
Prahran state Liberal MP Clem Newton-Brown was also quick to denounce the comments, arguing Lane’s views were not representative of Liberal Party ideals and principles.
Opposition spokesperson on LGBTI issues Martin Foley disagreed, claiming Lane’s comments represented a problem with the culture of the Victorian Liberal Party.
“Today’s Liberal Party is still home to yesterday’s offensive views,” he said.
“Sacking Aaron Lane is not enough, Denis Napthine must stand up to the rest of the Liberal Party’s hate faction and sack them too.”
This incident follows the revelation last month that Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark would be delivering a “welcome to Victoria” speech to the World Congress of Families, a group with noted homophobic views, including support for the rollout of anti-gay laws in Russia. Clark’s involvement has been widely criticised.
It is difficult to tell if this is election panic, or the Liberal Party is locking out homophobia. It is very welcome to see such homophobic views unwelcome. But it is a bitter sweet irony. Given It was the party that voted to strip workplace protections, and turn back the clock, on thousands of GLBTI people who work in government funded religious businesses. The Party sprinted in the opposite direction to Obama. I think those who look after you, when you cannot look after yourself, deserve our respect, not government vilification. Not the threat of losing their job, not because of the contribution they make in society, but because of who they love. It just seems a great wrong. I have to ask, will this be reversed and an apology made? Will be able to adopt and end other areas of discrimination?
A few years ago, some thugs who hated gays, decided to kill the first great love I ever had. We were high school sweethearts. While I was still grieving, looking the at the wall at night, looking at that side of the bed, Robert Clark gave a very nasty speech, to parliament. At times in my life, I find the Liberal Party to be the chorus to those who do us harm. I am a little confused at the moment. Is homophobia acceptable in the party, or is it not? How can Robert Clark stay in power, as the Cheif Law maker, the Attorney General, and this other guy, not get a second chance? If racism is not acceptable why is homophobia still acceptable in the Liberal Party? I support some things about the Liberal Party, but I am not convinced that the party really gets it.
Below is what the Age wrote at the time Robert Clark went after us…..
Robert Clark, who is now shadow treasurer, has likened homosexual practices to smoking, except that they were far worse.
“It is a foolish practice, it is destructive and it is harmful, and that is capable of scientific and medical measurement and assessment,” he told Parliament in 1995.
“I believe homosexual practices form a destructive way of life, destructive to the individual and destructive also to other individuals who are brought into that way of life. I suppose it is most readily demonstrable at a physical level; it is a physical fact that the human body is not designed for many homosexual practices and it is clear that physical problems follow from those practices.”
Mr Clark went on to quote a student medical text stating that homosexual male pedophiles commonly reported molesting hundreds of victims, while heterosexual pedophiles “molest only a few”.
He referred to figures provided by a gay and lesbian rights group which he said showed that statistically there was greater risk of homosexuals engaging in child abuse than heterosexuals.
It would be “absolutely wrong”, however, to attack or vilify those engaged in homosexual practices. If homosexual predisposition were genetic, then those so affected had to come to terms and deal with it just like people born with haemophilia or spina bifida. It would be a “false kindness” and misleading, deceptive and dangerous, however, to say such practices were acceptable.
Mark, its important to remember that the Vic Libs decriminalised homosexual acts in the 80’s and they are now expunging the records of people who were convicted under those laws.
The Libs have a wide range of views, not all are acceptable, like the case we have here. And they have taken the right action.
All fine and good but we must not forget this! The Victorian State Attorney-General Robert Clark is set to address a hardline pro-life event in Melbourne organised by the controversial US-based group dedicated to preventing abortion and criminalising homosexuality…..Mr Clark will deliver a “welcome to Victoria” speech to the World Congress of Families – an event which also features an American doctor promoting a discredited link between abortion and breast cancer and the promoter of Russia’s “crusade” against homosexuality, and representatives from the hard-right Rise Up Australia Party