Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan has issued a public apology for recent comments he allegedly made where he linked gay men with paedophilia.

Last week reports emerged that at the National Marriage Day Breakfast Heffernan [pictured] approached the two gay protesters, John Davey and John Klopprogge, after the event, put his arm around one and said, “I don’t mind gay people, I just want you to stop fucking the kids.”

Senator Heffernan has since denied the report and according to the Daily Telegraph he has issued a public apology to anyone who was offended by the “misquote”.

“I wish to clarify the alleged media comments in respect to gay people being paedophiles. This is incorrect,” said Heffernan in a statement. “I actually said ‘everyone knows that I conduct a continuous war on people who use kids as sex objects and I don’t intend to change now’. I did not refer at any point to gay people only.”

“It is these kinds of ignorant comments that keep alive the myth homosexual men are perverted, sick and dirty child molesters,” said gay activist Gary Burns said in a statement released to the Daily Telegraph.

“People in the powerful position of Senator Bill Heffernan should be aware they have responsibilities as well known public figures, because it is their comments that lead to gay men becoming a statistic of a gay hate crime.

“The comment linking paedophilia to a characteristic of male homosexuality also acts as a capacity builder supporting gay youth to commit suicide.”