Aussie Journo In Hot Water Over Gay Slur
Australian entertainment journalist and columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald Paul Sheehan will be facing a Press Council hearing late next month due to complaints which were made over his recent opinion piece about controversial artist Bill Henson. Some believe he implied that the gay community endorses paedophilia.
On May 26, the Sydney Morning Herald published the following words from Sheehan: “Pederasts and child sexploiters have had a dream run in our society. A subculture of pedophilia among gays, an epidemic of child sexual abuse in the Aboriginal community, and a multimillion-dollar porn industry on the internet have all been protected variously by privacy laws, artistic licence, freedom of expression, and Aboriginal rights. What these rights have done is mask, exacerbate or even rationalise a significant and growing problem.”
Two complaints were subsequently made – one from a man named Dale Mills, another from a judge who asked to remain anonymous. The complaints said that Sheehan “presented homophobic prejudice as fact without citing any evidence”, that paedophilia is a problem within the whole community, not just the gay community, and that “Sheehan’s reference to a subculture of pedophilia among gays was undoubtedly intended by him to be a slur on the entire gay community.”
Earlier this month Sheehan defended himself in print, saying “Because the images at the centre of the Bill Henson controversy are of a naked 13-year-old girl… I included the [mentions of the gay subculture] to broaden the context, assuming readers would take it as a given the preponderance of paedophiles are heterosexual, as has been abundantly reported and is common knowledge.”
Sheehan admits that he should have been more specific about his reasons for the inclusion of the information and adds, “Had I intended to smear the ‘entire gay community’… I would have used the term ‘gay culture’ not ‘gay subculture’. There is a world of difference.”
Sheehan says that when writing the piece he was mindful of “the notorious ‘boy love’ advocacy by convicted Australian pedophiles Geoffrey Leonard, Phillip Bell, Robert “Dolly” Dunn, among others.” He stands by his writing however, challenging the judge by asking, “Do you actually contend that there is no subculture of pedophilia among homosexuals?”
The matter goes before the Press Council on July 30.
Your Thoughts
Hey there, you need to be logged in to get involved with SameSame, click here to login if you're already a member, or here if you need to become a new member.
Tazia Doll
said ages ago