The WA State Director of the Australian Christian Lobby Peter Abetz has labelled claims made by local LGBTIQA+ rights advocate Paul van Lieshout Hunt as false and defamatory.
The former Pride WA President, and current co-chair of the City of Perth’s LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Advisory Group, released a media statement following peaceful protests outside the Australian Christian Lobby’s The Truth Of It event at RAC Arena.
Peter Abetz said the statements made by van Lieshout, and published by OUTinPerth, do not reflect the truth.
“It is one thing to have a difference of opinion, but to blatantly lie about those who don’t share your views is unacceptable conduct, as well as defamatory,” Abetz said.
Paul van Lieshout-Hunt claimed in a media release that, “The Australian Christian Lobby are well known for their ‘underground’ churches where they practice medieval operations on children.”
“ACL has never operated churches – neither above ground nor below ground,” Abetz said. “The claim that ACL ‘practices medieval operations on children’ is an outright lie as well as defamatory.
“We call on Mr van Lieshout Hunt to retract that statement and for the City of Perth’s LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Advisory Group to publicly distance itself from this libelous claim.
“The ACL is a volunteer movement and we don’t allow anyone under the age of 16 to volunteer. We certainly have never ‘practised medieval operations’ on children. It’s a disgrace for such an unfounded claim to be circulated.”
City of Perth says the statement does not reflect their views
The City of Perth said the statements do not reflect the view of the city, or its LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Advisory group which van Lieshout Hunt co-chairs.
“The views expressed in the media statement are not those of the City of Perth,” a spokesperson said.
“We value the contribution of the co-chairs to the LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group, however the co-chairs are not authorised to speak on behalf of the City of Perth or the LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group.”
The ACL never said “pray the gay away”
Paul van Lieshout Hunt also appeared on 6PR’s Breakfast program saying the protesters outside the event were standing up to the Australian Christian Lobby.
“Around about 60 of us gathered on Saturday night to protest the Australian Christian Lobby for telling Western Australian young people that ‘they can pray the gay away,” van Lieshout Hunt told host Gareth Parker.
Challenged on whether ACL Managing Director Martyn Iles had made such a statement in his presentation, van Lieshout Hunt responded; “Amongst other things that’s certainly what both Martyn Iles and the Australian Christian Lobby believe.”
“Is that what he said? Did he used those form of words, that you can ‘pray the gay away’?” asked Parker.
“No”, van Lieshout Hunt said, “but he did say ‘Safe Schools is trying to convert people into some weird gender culture, and his colleague Peter Abetz, the former member for Southern River, said ‘Christian values are under fire from gay rights.'”
“I think it’s ridiculous in 2021 that we are still having to protest our rights as human beings living in Western Australia,” van Lieshout Hunt told the program.
OUTinPerth has confirmed that Peter Abetz did not make a claim about claim about gay rights encroaching upon religious rights during his presentation.
Van Lieshout Hunt said he was not quoting Abetz directly, but paraphrasing more generally.
“What I was paraphrasing was that the push-back from the religious right on the issue of ‘religious freedom’ is based on a roll-back of LGBTI equality laws and anti-discrimination protections.
“Conservative Christians seem to believe that the advance of equality laws for LGBTI’s on issues such as banning conversion practices and stopping faith schools sacking gay teachers is an attack on Christian values.”
Van Lieshout Hunt also provided OUTinPerth with a statement regarding the ACL’s concerns over accuracy and potentially defamatory comments.
Statement from Paul van Lieshout Hunt
Paul van Lieshout Hunt requested his statement in response to the concern be published in full.
The ACL has complained about a comment by me that appeared in Out in Perth.
The ACL has requested both a retraction of the comment, and this is published in response to that request. The article concerned an event called The Truth of It.
My comment was in the following terms:
“I don’t understand why the Australian Christian Lobby are more focused on us as gays or trans people, rather than the homeless,” Hunt said. “The Australian Christian Lobby are well known for their “underground” churches where they practice medieval operations on children.”
The complaint was in the following terms:
The WA State Director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Peter Abetz, has labelled claims made by Paul van Lieshout-Hunt, co-chair of City of Perth’s LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Advisory Group, as false and defamatory.
“It is one thing to have a difference of opinion, but to blatantly lie about those who don’t share your views is unacceptable conduct, as well as defamatory,” said Mr Abetz.
Mr van Lieshout-Hunt claimed in a media release that, “The Australian Christian Lobby are well known for their ‘underground’ churches where they practice medieval operations on children.”
“ACL has never operated churches – neither above ground nor below ground,” Mr Abetz said.
“The claim that ACL ‘practices medieval operations on children’ is an outright lie as well as defamatory.
“We call on Mr van Lieshout-Hunt to retract that statement and for the City of Perth’s LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Advisory Group to publicly distance itself from this libellous claim.
“The ACL is a volunteer movement and we don’t allow anyone under the age of 16 to volunteer. We certainly have never ‘practised medieval operations’ on children. It’s a disgrace for such an unfounded claim to be circulated.”
The approach taken in the ACL’s complaint is very literal. It is unclear whether the ACL’s complaint is that they do not operate underground churches, do not operate churches at all, or do not practice medieval operations on children, or a combination of these things.
To complain in this literal serves to avoid the substance of the matter.
As the article itself makes quite clear the ACL prosecutes the notion that sexuality is chosen, and that people choose to be LGBTIQA+ and can choose not to be LGBTIQA+.
That notion is not supported by any proper scientific evidence and is widely regarded by decent and thinking people as discredited and untenable.
What is implicit in the prosecution of that notion has operated for many hundreds of years to marginalise, discriminate LGBTIQA+ people, and worse.
First that to be LGBTIQA is wrong and from that it follows that LGBTIQA+ people are bad and lesser than opposite sex attracted people.
Second, that LGBTIQA+ people can change themselves and ought to do so.
The currency of those propositions has worked appalling harm and lasting damage on LGBTIQA+ people for generations.
The fact that the ACL involves itself with this sort of nonsense at all, and worse, seeks political influence to push this position with governments is a matter of deep shame and disgrace on the ACL and all who associate with it.
In fact, there was nothing wrong with the words I used even in a literal sense. As any Christian will espouse, even to the point of tedium, a church is but a community of people. The ACL is, regrettably, at least that, as evidenced by the event itself.
It is because conversion thereby is discredited and untenable that is increasing practiced ‘underground’ to avoid the disapproval that would come from decent and thinking people if it was engaged in openly.
On any view the descriptor ‘medieval’ fits the bill. And typically it is inflicted on young people at very vulnerable times in their life, including children.
On this issue there is no room for politeness or delicacy or acceptance that views on the issue may differ. Garbage needs to be called by it proper name.
To fail to do so, is to take the first step backwards and on to a dangerously slippery slope.
I wish to express my thanks to OUTinPerth to agreeing to publish my statement in response to this request.
Graeme Watson
Declaration: OUTinPerth acknowledges that both Graeme Watson and Leigh Andrew Hill, the owners of Spierins Media, have known Paul van Lieshout Hunt for many years through both personal and professional relationships.
OUTinPerth has apologised to Peter Abetz and the Australian Christian Lobby for publishing the comment of concern.
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