On Channel Ten’s current affairs panel program ‘The Project’ last night, Mia Freedman caused controversy for comparing gay people to paedophiles.
Freedman is the founder and editorial director of Australian womens’ website Mamamia.com.au. The writer and media consultant was arguing in favour of a national paedophile register.
“We accept that gay people can’t change who they love and who they’re sexually attracted to, so why do we think that people who are sexually attracted to children can be rehabilitated?” she said.
“Name and shame them. I want to know where they are.”
Backlash to Freedman’s comments on social media was swift. Many took to Twitter to express their disagreement:
Very disappointing comment by Mia Freedman on #TheProjectTV tonight. A little shocked.
— Nicole (@Harbette) Oktubre 16, 2014
Mia Freedman constantly sounds like she’s reading out a bunch of YouTube comments instead of stating an actual relevant opinion.
— Kate Iselin (@kateiselin) Oktubre 16, 2014
Can people please now stop having Mia Freedman on various shows as a panelist? The absolute worst
— Marlo Perry (@MarloPerry) Oktubre 16, 2014
Freedman quickly took to Twitter herself to apologise:
Lousy analogy on @theprojecttv . Apologies if it came across wrong. — Mia Freedman (@MiaFreedman) Oktubre 16, 2014
Mortified that I may have caused offence to some in the gay community who misunderstood my clumsily worded point in chat on @theprojecttv — Mia Freedman (@MiaFreedman) Oktubre 16, 2014
I am a longtime and fierce supporter of marriage equality and the LGBTQI community. — Mia Freedman (@MiaFreedman) Oktubre 16, 2014
Freedman also wrote a lengthy statement on Mamamia, which read in part: “Let me be absolutely clear: I unreservedly apologise to anyone I have upset, confused or outraged and to anyone who thought I would ever ever ever stand with bigotry or homophobia.
“I know the facts: there is no link between homosexuality and offending against children. And after the hundreds of hours of live TV and radio I have done, I should have known better; it’s dangerous to try and make a complex point about such an important topic in 10 seconds.
“The point I was trying to make was this:
“Sexual orientation is real; it cannot be ‘cured’ or ‘changed’. We reject the idea that gay people chose to be gay. We reject the idea that straight people choose to be straight. As a society we have come to accept the intractability of sexual orientation.
“So why do we assume that people who have sexual feelings towards children can be ‘cured’ or have those feelings changed with therapy? Instead, shouldn’t we accept that the feelings of paedophiles cannot be changed but that acting on those feelings can – and must – be restricted.
“The idea that someone could – or should – be ‘cured’ of their sexual orientation is repugnant. So that’s what informed my analogy. Was prime time TV in a 10-second sound bite the right place to make that point? Clearly not. I was trying to raise concerns about our capacity to rehabilitate child sex offenders and I chose a bad example to try and do so.
“What devastates me most is the idea that I have unwittingly handed ammunition to haters and bigots who might read two words in a headline and think I was on their side. That distresses me and horrifies me beyond belief.”
Some have been forgiving of Freedman’s “lousy analogy”:
must say the @MiaFreedman furore is a pretty good example of ignoring someone’s clear intention for the sake of a pile on. — Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) Oktubre 17, 2014
However, some do not regard Freedman’s intentions as entirely positive:
I am prepared to accept that Mia Freedman misspoke, but I do have a problem with the idea that innate sexuality should = “name and shame”. — Megan Clement (@MegClement) Oktubre 17, 2014
Just heard what @MiaFreedman said on @theprojecttv last night. Not clumsy wording, clumsy logic. — Jonathan Brown (@JB_AU) Oktubre 16, 2014
Freedman said in her statement that she had deleted Twitter from her phone after the comments on social media became “too intense”.
Sophie Joske
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