Media Coverage:
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has denounced the Australian Christian Lobby for comparing gay marriage and the safe schools program to the Holocaust. In criticising Bill Shorten’s support for the safe schools program, ACL director Lyle Shelton reference the rise of Nazi Germany, stating, “The cowardice and weakness of Australia’s ‘gatekeepers’ is causing unthinkable things to happen, just as unthinkable things happened in Germany in the 1930s.”
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:
“I recognise how irresistible the Nazi analogy has become in today’s society and how its usage has spiralled out of control. But no matter how strong one’s objections to marriage equality or to the safe schools program is, cynically debasing, twisting and abusing the Holocaust in order to advance any agenda and to attack opponents is repugnant and has no place in Australia’s civil discourse. Perhaps the ACL figures that their insensitive equation will generate headlines and grab attention for their cause. However, to compare gay marriage and the acceptance of transgender people to the rise of Hitler’s regime, responsible for the extermination of six million Jews and millions of others is profoundly offensive, shows a gross lack of understanding of the historical truth, and only fans the flames of hatred and demonisation of the LGBTI community. It also insults the memory of the victims, which included gay people, as well as survivors and all those who fought valiantly against the Nazis in WWII. As an organisation with a longstanding commitment to the protecting civil rights, we urge ACL director Lyle Shelton to apologize for maligning advocates for the safe schools program and for marriage equality. We also hope that he refrains from invoking Holocaust imagery in the future. I also call on all political and religious leaders to publicly repudiate such hurtful statements, and to make it clear that such analogies are totally unacceptable and coarsen public debate.”
The Anti-Defamation Commission, founded in 1979, is Australia’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through educational programs that combat bigotry, prejudice and all forms of hatred.
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677