News / Society

Family First Senator Attacks Marriage Equality By Saying Gay Men Are Too “Unfaithful” To Marry. Bob Day used quotes from gay sex columnist Dan Savage to help argue his point.

Australian Family First Senator Bob Day gave a speech on Friday arguing against gay marriage by saying gay men are unfaithful to their partners. Australia is still fighting to legalize same-sex marriage, and Day made his remarks during the second reading of the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill.

“In places where gay people, typically men, have been able to form recognized unions, they do not necessarily equate their commitment to monogamy,” Day said.

Day then quoted gay sex columnist and LGBT advocate Dan Savage as saying that gay men are often “unfaithful” and that only having one partner in a relationship is “unrealistic and unnatural.”

“The term ’monogamish’ — monogamy as a kind of ’monogamish’ — has now been coined, a sort of ’open marriage’ — a tautology if ever I heard one in this brave new world — as they feel a restriction to one partner is unrealistic and unnatural,” Day said, using the term originally created by Savage.

He also used a quote from activist Dennis Altman who once said:

“Now I am going to speak as a gay man: one of the things about gay male culture is that it is not a monogamous culture. All the evidence we have suggests that monogamy is a myth. There are many longstanding gay relationships. There are virtually no longstanding monogamous gay relationships.”

The Australian Senate debated same-sex marriage again this week, but did not vote on the issue at this time.