Charlie Pickering Goes Malcolm Turnbull For Failing To Stand Up To Anti-Gay Voices In His Party

Since Malcolm Turnbull took the top job in September, any hopes he would drag the Coalition to a more sensible position on marriage equality (or LGBTI rights in general) have been pretty comprehensively dashed. Besides his backflip on allowing a free party vote on any marriage equality bill before Parliament and sticking with the expensive, unnecessary and potentially dangerous national plebiscite, Turnbull’s repeatedly failed to rein in the increasing instances of homophobic rhetoric within his own party ranks. In recent weeks Coalition politicians like George Christensen, Cory Bernardi and Tony Abbott have been making irresponsible, inflammatory and damaging comments about the Safe Schools program, and Turnbull seems either incapable or unwilling to put his foot down.

All of which is doubly disappointing given Turnbull’s personal support for marriage equality and more socially liberal outlook. On The Weekly last night, Charlie Pickering called out Turnbull’s lack of courage on the issue, highlighting the consequences such anti-gay sentiment can have on vulnerable LGBTI people and unpicking some of the anti-marriage equality lobby’s more odious arguments.