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SAME-sex couples should not be allowed to marry,
according to Prime Minister John Howard. Mr Howard said although he did not think homosexuals should be discriminated against, he did not believe they were entitled to "the whole hog". "I certainly don't think there should be the same status given to homosexual liaisons as you give to marriage. I know that will make me unpopular with some people, but I accept that," he said. "I think that the continuity of our society depends on there being a margin around things like that. |
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"There are many things that you endeavour to
tolerate in life without necessarily doing them personally or thinking that they
should be given a different status.
"My view is we should be completely tolerant and fair-minded about people's sexual preferences, but I don't believe homosexual relationships should be given the same place in our society as concepts such as marriage." Mr Howard also said he would be disappointed if one of his sons was gay. His comments were described by gay politicians as hypocritical and stuck in a 1950s time warp. Mr Howard made them before 150 teenagers during a Triple J radio segment on youth issues, including homosexuality. "If one of my sons said he was gay, and can I say I am being asked a completely hypothetical question," the PM began. "What I said was if one of them hypothetically said he was gay, I said I would not love him any less but I did go on to say that I'd be disappointed. "I have not met a parent yet who wants their children to grow up gay. "Many people – and I am one of them – see marriage as one of the bedrock institutions of society." Greens leader Bob Brown, who "came out" in 1976, said Mr Howard had been "left in the wash of a seachange" that had arrived a long time ago. |
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