Former WA One Nation candidate Parminder Singh, who described gay people as having a mental illness and said pride parades were advertising to children, has apologised for his comments, saying “I was repeating something I had heard”.
In a statement shared by 9News Perth, Singh apologised for his comments and attempted to clarify them.
“I respect everyone, I accept everyone, he said, “I’m sorry I hurt people.”
The former One Nation candidate made quite a few random statements in an interview with popular Perth comedian and street interviewer Jasky Singh, aka Mr Sikkant. The video has since been removed from Instagram.
Formerly number three on One Nation WA’s Legislative Council ticket, Singh volunteered his thoughts on the gay and lesbian community, saying:
- pride parades advertise homosexuality to young people,
- that gay people were mentally ill,
- he claimed that women who go into relationships with other women don’t go back to men because they think men are “using them”,
- that animals are smarter than humans because they don’t want gay sex
- and that he didn’t want same sex marriage to be legal.
Related content:
- Barnaby Joyce reckons One Nation is ‘one of the gayest parties in Australia’
- One Nation removes WA candidate from website after bizarre anti-gay interview
- Fact-checking Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club speech
‘I respect everyone’
“I want to clarify what I said,” Singh said in his statement. “I was repeating something I had heard people saying on social media about homosexuality being a mental illness.”
“I should not have presented that as a fact. I respect everyone, and I believe every person in Australia should be free to live their life with dignity, equality and respect.”
As we accurately reported, Mr Singh commented that he liked “the girl who put something on social media that there are three sex [genders]. Male, female and mentally ill.”
One Nation candidate Parminder SinghSource: Instagram
One Nation is putting this into the public arena
When Mr Singh’s comments went public, One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce defended the party from anti-gay comments, declaring on air that One Nation is apparently “one of the gayest parties in Australia”.
While the memes were amusing for a moment, they raised larger concerns. Not only about the vetting process and procedures within One Nation, but the way they are allowing this discourse into the public sphere. Many WA politicians spoke out against the comments.
“We’re seeing a long list of One Nation Party candidates, and this is on the public record, that make really deeply extreme, nasty comments against the LGBT community,” WA Minister John Carey said.
“This does demonstrate the risk of One Nation in any government, because it is very clear this is not a one-off – this is something that we see on a regular basis, and what’s worse is Pauline Hanson and the One Nation leadership never call it out. I do blame squarely One Nation for this because they’re putting it into the public arena.”
“There is a significant cultural problem here at One Nation. They facilitate it. They enable it because they pre-select these candidates.”
Federal One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said on Thursday that Mr Singh “was not standing for One Nation… They’re not my views.”
‘This kind of hate has a price’
“This kind of hate has a price. It has a cost,” said WA Greens MP Sophie McNeill, who said her party stood in solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community.
“There are so many young people who feel at risk in their own communities when they see leaders in parliament and political candidates say things like this.”
On Thursday, students around the country left school to protest against One Nation and Pauline Hanson.
The rallies were organised by the National Union of Students and attracted hundreds of protesters in each city.
They were carrying banners, signs and even effigies of Pauline Hanson. One Nation supporters were moved on by police at rallies in Sydney and Brisbane.
“This is what democracy looks like,” one Year 9 student told the ABC.
South Australian One Nation leader Cory Bernardi said on social media, “Australia’s classrooms should teach young people how to think, not turn them into props for someone else’s political agenda”, implying young people can’t think for themselves.
Bernardi also opens the video with a same sex couple kissing and a goth individual. It’s clear how he is trying to target frame people who disagree with his views.
Earlier this year, Bernardi has doubled down “100 per cent” on a speech he gave linking same-sex marriage to bestiality back in 2012.
Hanson condemned the rallies on X, writing to students, saying that “Whether you know it or not, One Nation and I are fighting for you”.
Perhaps One Nation should comment and fight a little less and start listening.
For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, and community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
