Mark Latham under fire over "disgusting" homophobic tweet
<p>Mark Latham has been condemned by both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and One Nation senator Pauline Hanson for a "disgusting" homophobic tweet. </p>
<p>The One Nation NSW leader took aim at <span style="font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif;">independent MP Alex Greenwich, an openly gay man, who was discussing the recent violent protest at St Michael's Church in Sydney's west which saw members of the LGBTQIA+ community be attacked by religious extremists. </span></p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">More than a dozen LGBTQIA+ protesters were ambushed by hundreds of men outside an event at the church where Mr Latham spoke about parental rights and religious freedom. </p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">In an article Mr Greenwich called Mr Latham a "disgusting human being" who risks causing a "great deal of damage to our state". </p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">Latham was quick to respond on Twitter, saying "That's disgusting?" What about..." followed by a graphic and homophobic comment that OverSixty has chosen not to publish. </p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">Mr Greenwich said he didn't want to directly respond to the now-deleted tweet. </p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">"I understand this tweet has been taken down, and I don't intend to engage with the matter further," he said in a statement.</p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">"My focus in the parliament will be working with the majority of members who support the LGBTQ community to progress important reforms." </p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">One Nation founder and leader Pauline Hanson said she and her party associates did not condone the remarks and she has asked Mr Latham to apologise publicly. </p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">"I think (the comments) are disgusting," she said in a video on Facebook. </p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">"I've actually tried to ring Mark a couple of times to no avail and I have clearly sent a text message to him telling him my views."</p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">Anthony Albanese also condemned Latham's comments, telling 10 News "hateful speech" is never warranted and added nothing to public disclosure. </p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;">"I am concerned that with social media we seem to have a circumstance whereby people would say things through various applications they'd never say to someone face to face and we know that can be very hurtful and it can have drastic consequences."</p>
<p class="_39n3n" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: abcsans, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>