Australian state anti-discrimination minister denounces Catholic publication affirming marriage
September 28, 2015
A prominent politician in the Australian state of Tasmania has lodged a formal complaint against a pamphlet on marriage produced by the Catholic Church, saying that it causes “immeasurable harm” by arguing against acceptance of same-sex unions.
Martine Delaney, the anti-discrimination commissioner of Tasmania’s state government, called for an investigation of the Australian bishops’ conference for issued Don’t Mess with Marriage. The pamphlet was distributed to 12,000 families with children in the state’s Catholic schools. Delaney charged that the publication denigrated the rights of homosexuals.
Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart countered that the bishops’ pamphlet “affirms the dignity of all human beings.” He insisted that the Church has a right to publicize views, in the interests of open debate. And he charged that some politicians are seeking to silence the voice of the Church and indeed of all opponents of same-sex marriage. “Increasingly they are trying to manipulate anti-discrimination legislation to achieve this end,” he observed.
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