Aspiring politician Bernard Gaynor has won his landmark case against the Australian Defence Force.
Mr Gaynor, an army reservist, was sacked by the Chief of the Defence Force last year following his criticism of the army allowing uniformed soldiers to march in the Mardi Gras Parade.
On his blog the conservative commentator said army personnel would be; “sharing the road with pimps, prostitutes and purveyors of moral decadence.”
Mr Gaynor has also campaigned against transgender people often referring to the as “gender benders” and “confused men”.
The Chief of the Defence Force argued that Gaynor; “brought army into disrepute at a time when the ADF is progressing a number of major policy reforms in the area of equity and diversity.”
When Gaynor refused to stop publishing his views he was dismissed from the army reserves.
Before becoming a member of the army reserves Mr Gaynor was a full time member of the army and served in Iraq.
On Friday Judge John Buchanan ruled that the army’s response was not in proportion to the offense committed and overruled Mr Gaynor’s termination.
“It may be the case that members of a full time regular service are rarely (if ever) free to publicly express opinions against the policies of the ADF or the decisions of their superiors but the same cannot always be said about members of reserves,” Judge Buchaman said.
On his Twitter account Gaynor welcomed the federal court’s decision and said it had ramifications for the Tasmanian case against Archbishop Julian Porteous.
Yesterday’s FCA win sets a huge precedent. Basically it means the Greens case against Porteous has no chance #auspol https://t.co/1LW0oMf8fB
— Bernard Gaynor (@BernardGaynor) December 4, 2015
Bernard Gaynor first came to public attention when he stood for parliament for the Katter’s Australian Party. He resigned after he made controversial comments arguing that parents had a right to know if there children were being taught by homosexual teachers.
In an interview with OUTinPerth last year Mr Gaynor said he believed that any public display of homosexuality should be illegal.
“Personally I think public displays of homosexuality should be illegal. There’s probably not many people who agree with me on that, and I must admit that even a few years ago I was more of the opinion that what happens between two people remained between two people. That’s why I say ‘pubic displays’ because I think there are very serious negative consequences to this behaviour, not only to people but to society as well, that do justify a public stance against it.” Gaynor said.
Mr Gaynor said that he believes that homosexuality should be illegal in Australia and that people should be punished with financial sanctions but more serious offensives may require more serious responses. Mr Gaynor argues that homosexuality should be made illegal so that people opposing it cannot be taken to the Equal Opportunity Commission for speaking out in opposition.
“When it’s not illegal publicly it starts to become protected publicly and that means that people who oppose it, and these people are moral people, [they] start becoming criminals. So you have an inversion of that the law should be for. The law should be about defending truth and justice not a process for defending vice and immorality.”Mr Gaynor said.
In October Mr Gaynor announced he would be representing the new political party The Australian Liberty Alliance. The new party, which focuses on stopping immigration from Muslim nations. Mr Gaynor is the parties senate candidate for Queensland.
OIP Staff
