Despite having once written a column which blamed the gay community for AIDS, newly elected Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has been wished well in his new role by a Wagga LGBTI advocacy group.
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The column was written in 1993 when he was editor of The Daily Advertiser and caused huge controversy at the time and on several more recent occasions.
“As a committee, we feel that any comments made many years ago were, in the context of the times, what one could consider to be a reasonably held position by many people, given that many had zero or limited experience with homosexuality generally, with the added fear and hysteria of the AIDS crisis contributing to the holding of these views,” Rainbow Riverina member Kat van der Wijngaart said.
“Mr McCormack has shown he has moved forward in his thinking, as he did vote ‘Yes’ in the Marriage Equality amendment to the Marriage Act, accurately reflecting the view of his electorate. He has apologised for his infamous editorial in the past and claims to have changed.
“We have to be mature and give him the benefit of the doubt, as we would with any other person.”