Gavin Prendergast, far right, says Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi's comments in Parliament today were "mind boggling".
Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi, left, pictured with Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison.
Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi.
Parramatta Queer Forum member Gavin Prendergast says comments made in Parliament about same-sex marriage leading to calls for legitimised bestiality and polygamy are ‘‘crazy talk’’ and ‘‘mind-boggling’’.
Mr Prendergast was referring to a speech made by Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi last night on the private member's bill to legalise same-sex marriage.
Senator Bernardi said the push for same-sex marriage was part of an attack on ‘‘our enduring institutions’’.
‘‘It is another chip in the fabric of our social mores,’’ he said.
‘‘If we are prepared to redefine marriage ... what is the next step?’’
‘‘The next step ... is having three people that love each other should be able to enter into a permanent union endorsed by society, or four people.
‘‘There are even some creepy people out there, who say that it’s OK to have consensual sexual relations between humans and animals.
‘‘Will that be a future step?’’
Mr Prendergast, an organiser of the recent Parramatta Pride Picnic, said this morning that Mr Bernardi had obviously ‘‘lost touch’’ with mainstream society.
‘‘I think Cory is in a minority of people who have this illogical thought process,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s the last bastion of somebody who doesn’t have an argument left.
‘‘To say one thing will lead to another, and then another, is really just grasping at straws to get people concerned about something that is just love.
‘‘Two people getting together.
‘‘How they could compare that to bestiality is really just mind-boggling crazy talk.
‘‘I’m a little bit flabbergasted that somebody, in 2012, would compare the love of two human beings to bestiality.’’
Mr Prendergast said the majority of Australians supported same sex marriage.
And, like many people, he could not understand the argument that it would in any way have a negative effect on heterosexual couples and families.
‘‘When you think about the conservative side of politics and their want for people to be in committed monogamous relationships, really the next step of that is to allow same sex couples to marry.
‘‘If every tax-paying Australian is allowed to have the same rights, I don’t think the sky will fall in.
‘‘I think it will only strengthen society as a whole.’’
The bill introduced by Labor MP Stephen Jones to allow same-sex marriage was today defeated in the House of Representatives, 42 votes to 98.
Senator Bernardi has resigned as Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s personal parliamentary secretary following a furore over his comments.
In announcing Senator Bernardi’s resignation Mr Abbott said his contribution to the same-sex marriage debate was unwelcome.
‘‘They are views that I don’t share,’’ Mr Abbott said.
‘‘They are views that many people will find repugnant.’’