In the week following the prime minister’s Iftar dinner, the News Corp media published several articles condemning prominent Australian Muslims for homophobic statements they’ve made in the past. Campaigns against homophobia have faced ongoing challenges in Australia, with venom and animosity directed at LGBTI communities from all ends of the spectrum.
For example, Lyle Shelton, from the Australian Christian Lobby, likened gay marriage to “unthinkable” Nazi atrocities. Senator Bob Day of the Family First Party believes the anti-bullying program Safe Schools is a “gay lifestyle promotion program”; Wendy Francis, also of Family First, has declared that, “… children in homosexual relationships are subject to emotional abuse. Legitimising gay marriage is like legalising child abuse.”
Then there’s Cory Bernardi, who believes same-sex marriage leads to bestiality and polygamous marriages and George Christensen, who declared the Safe Schools program akin to paedophile grooming.
Although these politicians often disguise their sentiments with language focused on “families” or “free speech”, to avoid accusations of spreading homophobia, it is important they are exposed for what they are: hate preachers.
Parts of the News Corp media have had a relatively prominent role in the spread of such sentiments. Only last year, the Daily Telegraph ran a sensationalised story on the screening of award-winning documentary Gayby Baby at a school in Sydney, forcing the school to cancel the screening. They even ran a comment piece about the need to keep the “gay push” out of schools.
Similarly, the Australian’s campaign against the Safe Schools program was just as blatant in its homophobia. Unbelievably, 76 negative articles were produced on the program in three months. Just to add some perspective, this is an anti-bullying program they dedicated such negativity to. They published the views of Kevin Donnelly on Safe Schools without disclosing his belief that gay, lesbian and transgender people are “unnatural”. Even their letter section was overflowing with such sentiments.
This thus makes it particularly hypocritical of them to target Muslims on the issue. In using the issue of homophobia to maintain their vitriol against Muslims, they have only exacerbated the prevalence of homophobia in Australian society.
As someone who has worked in the Muslim community for years, both professionally and voluntarily, I’m the first to admit that homophobia is indeed an extensive problem, and in need of being addressed. However, it is vital in this instance to recognise that homophobia is hardly exclusive to the Muslim community.
When homophobia is rife among conservative politicians, religious figures and commentators from all across the spectrum of Australian society and underscores so much of the public debate on marriage equality, it becomes dubious, to say the least, that the focus of the debate should be solely placed on homophobia within the Muslim community.
One would only need to take a quick glance at the national discourse around marriage equality, and the divorce between conservative politicians seeking a plebiscite as a platform to legally advocate bigotry, and the Australian public largely in support of the legal reform.
These same politicians mentioned above also largely enjoy swathes of support and positive media from News Corp, their views often publicised and supported among the opinion writers there, whether it be with Andrew Bolt, Miranda Devine, Gary Johns, Janet Albrechtsen or Tim Blair.
If News Corp is outraged at the attendance of Muslim preachers who make anti-gay statements to an official event, where, also, was the outrage when certain groups that make anti-gay statements hosted mainstream political figures? Where was were the targeted attacks on Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison when they spoke at the Australian Christian Lobby’s national conference? Where was that same scrutiny when former prime minister Tony Abbott was hosted by anti-gay group the Alliance Defending Freedom, in New York?
How rich then, to see such condemnation of homophobia among Muslims. The way Sheikh Shady and Hanan Dover were criticised for their homophobic comments by the Australian and the Daily Telegraph was almost comical in its absurd hypocrisy considering the silence and even support provided to other homophobic voices.
I can’t speak for the victims of homophobia, nor for the queer Muslims who are most affected by these attacks, by the restriction of safe spaces and the trampling of their agency. I can’t speak for the different kinds of violence and abuse they face nor for their experiences.
But I can speak to the lack of consistency that is endemic in the reportage from these platforms and the predictable ideological mantras that spearheads these articles and exposés that betrays their appalling lack of balanced reporting.
If the reporting on homophobia was fair and balanced, and covered all the rest of the public figures flagrantly spreading hatred, then this would be a moot point. The selective reporting reeks of anti-Muslim sentiment , as opposed to a crusade against hatred.
This is not a request to alleviate criticism of Muslims, nor to restrict discussions on Islam. Instead, this is a request for consistency in reporting and application of the principles they supposedly espouse. Nobody is perfect, and Muslims are fair game, if it also includes the many other homophobic and vitriolic conservatives, religious figures and voices that sadly appear in every facet of the debate.
Mostafa Rachwani is a project officer at the Lebanese Muslim Association.
