Federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, has revealed that he feels “threatened” by homosexuality in an interview with current affairs program 60 Minutes.

During the story, which aired last night, journalist Liz Hayes tried to find out how Abbott’s conservative Catholic views affect his politics.

Of abortion, he said that he believed it should be safe, legal and rare. “And I underline ‘rare’,” he added. Abbott is in favour of IVF because it is about “creating life”, and he is somewhat open to the idea of the death penalty.

When Hayes asked, “Homosexuality? How do you feel about that?” he responded with, “I’d probably say I feel a bit threatened… as so many people.” When pressed, he elaborated, saying, “Again, Liz, look, it’s a fact of life and I try to treat people as people and not put them in pigeonholes.”

It’s a concerning opinion, given that Abbott could end up being the next Prime Minister of Australia.

Corey Irlam, spokesperson for Australian Coalition for Equality (ACE) will today write to Abbott, inviting him to meet with ordinary gays and lesbian people to help overcome his self-confessed sense of “threat” about homosexuality.

“We hope Mr Abbott will take up our invitation so he can overcome feeling threatened by homosexuality”, Mr Irlam said in a statement.

“Mr Abbott can pick any place he feels safe and we’ll invite ordinary members of the gay and lesbian community to come and talk with him to show him he has nothing to fear from us.”

Mr Irlam said statements like those of Mr Abbott highlight why Australia needs a national law prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexuality and gender identity.

“Unfortunately there are still some Australians who share Mr Abbott’s sense of threat, and who, in some cases, treat LGBTI Australians unfairly. The Opposition leader can show leadership on this issue by publicly committing the Coalition to support federal anti-discrimination laws on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

During an appearance on ABC Television on Monday night, Abbott elaborated on his homophobic views, saying, “There is no doubt that challenges, if you like, orthodox notions of the right order of things.”

The Federal Parliament has discussed the issue of legislation to protect Australians from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity on and off since 1997. Equivalent protections exist in all states and territories but the federal human rights framework has yet to include it.

Introduction of such legislative protections were included in recommendations from the National Human Rights Consultation report on same-sex entitlements released in 2009.