“But what I’m saying is we need to be aware that the homosexual lifestyle carries these problems and … normalising the lifestyle by the attribution of marriage, for instance, has to be considered in what it does encouraging people into it.”

Say what now?

My initial response to the comments made by Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) managing director Jim Wallace at a forum at the University of Tasmania yesterday could be simplified as follows: disgust, frustration and some excitable tweeting. Then came the realisation that instead of exhausting my limited emotional capacity with #headdesk tweets, I should reflect a little on why this kind of rhetoric continues to exist? After all, there are numerous social forces not confined to Mr Wallace that enable aggressive homophobia in our communities.

Anger is a productive emotion. It can sometimes lead to protest. It sometimes sparks violence. Personally, it often leads to productive writing. So here it is.

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