NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham has doubled down on his decision to tweet about a gay MP, claiming his extreme views echo those of the masses.
Mr Latham wrote the tweets on Thursday in response to comments by openly gay MP Alex Greenwich accusing him of being involved in an event targeting LGBTQIA+ protesters.
“Mark Latham is a disgusting human being and people who are considering voting for One Nation should realize that they are voting for an extremely hateful and dangerous person who is at risk of doing a lot of damage to our state,” Greenwich said last week.
In a now-deleted tweet in response, Latham wrote “Disgusting? How does that relate to -‘ before making a crude reference to a sexual act.
Mr Latham continued his efforts on Twitter on Saturday, claiming his extreme views are not that uncommon.
One Nation leader Mark Latham (pictured) has doubled down on his decision to comment on gay MP Alex Greenwich
“I’m only saying what normal people know to be the truth,” he said.
The elites deny this because they are embroiled in a strange cult of identity politics. In which alphabet are people automatically canonized.’
Mr Latham further referred to Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale, who identified as transgender and killed six people in the horror tragedy this week.
“How many other homicidal maniacs get a pass like this trans shooter in Nashville?” He wrote.
“Literacy ideology is a direct threat to the fairness of the rule of law, a pillar of Western civilization.”
Despite deleting the original tweet, Latham took to Twitter on Friday night with a cryptic post saying “never apologize, never explain” turns out to be right,” with a link in support of former US President Donald Trump.
Despite saying he does not expect an apology, Mr Greenwich said he hoped Mr Latham was ‘well’ after the incident as the One Nation MP has not been heard from since the tweets were released.
“On a very human level I hope he is okay, the comments he made are clearly not comments from a sane person,” Greenwich told reporters on Friday.
Mr Latham referred to school shooter Audrey Hale (pictured), who identified as transgender and killed six people, in tweets he made on Sunday about ‘alphabet ideology’
The target of the vile tweet, Independent MP Alex Greenwich (pictured), said he hoped Mr Latham was doing ‘well’ as his comments were ‘obviously not comments from a sane person’.
He revealed how moved he was by the tweets and how it had motivated him to double down on reform for NSW’s LGBTQIA+ community.
“Yesterday at the end of the day I cried a little bit, after being in this gig for ten years and being re-elected I didn’t think I would still be a victim of homophobic abuse,” he said.
“But I woke up refreshed and really re-engaged in LGBTQIA law reform with my colleagues, the majority of whom I know support the community.”
Mr Greenwich highlighted preventing LGBTQIA+ students and teachers from being excluded or fired for their sexuality, banning conversion therapy practices and allowing transgender people to change their identity documents without the need for surgery as areas of reform he would focus on. to target.
He said he did not expect the NSW Parliament to take action against Mr Latham over his tweets.
“I would fear that any action would give him even more of a soap box, allow him to play the victim, where he is someone who is constantly victimizing people,” he said.
Mr Greenwich responded to the uproar on Twitter on Thursday evening, posting a picture of him next to his man.
He wrote: “For those wondering how I’m doing after Latham’s homophobic attacks today, I’m doing well and more motivated than ever to implement the long overdue LGBTQIA+ reforms…and I have the hottest husband.’
Mr Greenwich posted a photo of himself next to his husband on Twitter on Thursday evening in response to the uproar
Latham’s controversial tweet came after Christian protesters targeted LGBTQIA+ activists outside a church where he was speaking
Mr Latham’s tweet remained online for about three hours before being deleted.
The exchange comes after hundreds of Christian protesters targeted LGBTQIA+ activists outside a church where Mr Latham gave a speech last Tuesday.
Video showed the Christian Lives Matter group throwing bottles and rocks at a small gathering of anti-Latham LGBTQIA+ protesters.
Mr Greenwich said Mr Latham’s views are ‘a thing of the past’ but want to move away from it.
“I understand that this tweet has been deleted and I do not intend to comment further on the matter,” he said in a statement.
“My focus in the next parliament will be working with the majority of members who support the LGBTQIA community to implement important reforms, remove discrimination and make it clear that these views are a thing of the past.”
The tweets have also been criticized by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
“I want you to know I don’t approve of them and neither do my MPs or fellow party members, I find them disgusting,” Ms Hanson said in a video shared on her own Twitter account.
“I actually tried calling Mark a couple of times, to no avail, and I obviously texted him giving him my opinion and also asking him to apologize to the people.”
Ms Hanson posted a scathing video to Facebook making it clear that her party did not ‘approve’ of her colleague’s comments
NSW Premier Chris Minns (pictured) described Latham’s comments as ‘despicable and shameful’
Mr Greenwich responded to Ms Hanson’s comments, saying he did not place much value on them due to her track record on LGBTQIA+ laws.
“Pauline Hanson, Mark Latham and One Nation, they are a group of people who target minority groups one by one and don’t care about the damage they do along the way,” he said.
“Pauline Hanson was probably disgusted and disturbed by the content of Mr. Latham’s tweet, but the actions she has taken in the Senate have always been anti-LGBT, so I don’t give her much credit at all for what I consider an empty declaration. .’
Newly appointed NSW Premier Chris Minns on Friday evening described Latham’s comments as ‘despicable and shameful’ and said Latham had revealed himself as a ‘bigorous’.