Peta Credlin: Media’s gay pride double standard

The public reaction to a young Muslim AFLW player refusing to wear a gay pride jumper was vastly different to Israel Folau expressing his Christian faith, Peta Credlin writes.

So help me out here. A young Muslim AFLW star refuses to wear the gay pride jumper for this weekend’s round and, as a consequence, misses the game.

She issues a media statement explaining her religious objection and she’s roundly defended by the media class for exercising her right to freedom of religious belief; indeed many broadcasts I saw yesterday branded her “courageous”.

Southport Tigers player, Israel Folau, in again action against the Tugun Seahawks in the RLGC Semi-Finals being played at the Seahawks home field in Bilinga on Sunday. Picture: Jerad Williams

Contrast that with the case of Australian Rugby player, Israel Folau, who cited a passage from the Bible expressing his Christian faith, which sparked national condemnation, the threatened cancelling of lucrative sponsorships and in the end, the loss of his place in the Wallabies.

For the record, I don’t share the views of either athlete even though I share Folau’s Christian faith. But I defiantly defend the right of both to freedom of expression. Pity many others in the media and public life aren’t so consistent.

THUMBS UP

The PM and Jenny Morrison: At the Lodge last week, faced with the graceless behaviour of Grace Tame, their composure said everything. Whether you voted for him or not, or any leader of our country, at a minimum, we should respect the democratic majority who did by respecting the Office, even if we have differences.

THUMBS DOWN

Holocaust ignorance: How chilling it was to hear on Holocaust Memorial Day that a quarter of all Australians have little to no knowledge of the genocide that cost at least six million lives and scarred generations. The price of “never again” is eternal vigilance and memory.

Watch Peta Credlin on Sky News, weeknights at 6pm