Mark Latham’s tweet shocked the political world. But it wasn’t the first time the controversial political leader has sparked controversy over a ‘gay’ statement
- Latham was sacked from Sky in 2017 over ‘gay’ comments
- He said he thought a high school student was gay in a video
- Now he is facing backlash over “homophobic” comments
Mark Latham was sacked as a Sky News commentator in 2017 after making comments on-air about a teenager’s sexuality.
The NSW One Nation leader is once again facing calls to lose his job after a rude remark he made on Twitter to Independent MP Alex Greenwich on Thursday.
He was quick to remove the homophobic slur, but not before it was shared again by critics demanding an apology.
As he faces criticism – including from national One Nation leader Pauline Hanson – attention has returned to the incident six years ago.
The comments he made on that occasion were directed at a Sydney Boys High School student who was featured in a video celebrating feminism.
Latham called the teens in the video “d***heads” when he appeared on the Outsiders program in March of that year, adding, “I thought the first guy was gay.”
Mark Latham was sacked as a Sky News commentator in 2017 after making on-air comments about a teenager’s sexuality
The response to his comments was swift and within two weeks, Sky News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos confirmed that he had been fired as a commentator for the channel.
“While we support strong opinions and strong arguments, we pride ourselves on doing so in a polite and respectful manner,” he said when announcing the decision.
Politicians from all sides of politics have criticized Latham on that occasion. Bill Shorten, the leader of Latham’s old party at the time, described the comments as “sad, attention-seeking behavior” and said he acted “like a bully.”
The then Federal Education Minister, Simon Birmingham, told Latham to ‘pick someone of his own stature’.
Latham took to Twitter to defend his comments on the occasion, telling his followers, “Why does the bigoted left automatically take the use of the word ‘gay’ as a negative?”
‘I like gays. Away from poisonous left-wing politics, they are wonderful people.’
The NSW One Nation leader is again facing calls to lose his job after a rude remark he made on Twitter to Independent MP Alex Greenwich on Thursday
Latham took to Twitter to defend his comments on the occasion, telling his followers, “Why does the bigoted left automatically take the use of the word ‘gay’ as a negative?” ‘I like gays. Away from poisonous left politics, they are great people’
There are now growing calls for Latham to step down from the NSW Legislative Council.
He was re-elected to another eight-year term just last weekend, as leader of NSW’s One Nation party.
But Pauline Hanson publicly joined the condemnation of Latham’s comments about Latham, revealing that she had tried calling him to ask him to issue a public apology, but he had not responded.
‘I’ve actually tried to call Mark a few times, but to no avail. And I obviously texted him telling him my opinion,” she said.
As he bows down in an attempt to dodge widespread criticism — including from national One Nation leader Pauline Hanson — attention has once again turned to the 2017 incident
There are now growing calls for Latham to step down from the NSW Legislative Council. He was re-elected to another eight-year term just last weekend, as leader of NSW’s One Nation party
“I asked him to apologize to the people. I’ll leave it at that. It’s now up to Mark to answer to the people.’
Latham quickly removed his post on Thursday attacking independent state MP Alex Greenwich but, in an apparent act of defiance, has been happy to receive several comments supporting his position.
He appears to have gone into hiding and is not taking calls as of Friday morning after objecting to Greenwich calling him “disgusting” after he gave a speech to a church as Christian Lives Matter protesters reportedly clashed with LGBTQI protesters.
Latham responded by tweeting, “Disgusting? How does that compare to sticking your dick in a guy’s ass and covering him in shit?”
New NSW Premier Chris Minns said the comments were ‘despicable’.
“I think it’s mean and embarrassing comments and I think he’s shown he’s bigoted,” he said.
“One of the things that shouldn’t be forgotten is that these kinds of comments, even though they’re terrible in themselves, they unleash ghosts on people.”