LGBTI activists force News Corp journo to quit NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby

LGBTI ‘activists’ force gay journalist to resign from board of NSW Gay Rights Lobby because he works for News Corp.

News Corp journalist Shannon Molloy has been forced to resign from the board of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby.

News Corp journalist Shannon Molloy has been forced to resign from the board of the New South Wales Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby after being subjected to a social media campaign protesting his participation based on who employed him.

Jill Stark, an SBS columnist who reports on LGBTI issues, said Molloy had been pressured to quit by third-party activists who complained that his employment with News Corp presented a conflict of interest with the lobby.

“The Lobby and Shannon were inundated with emails, Facebook and Twitter messages saying that having a News Corp staffer on the board was a conflict,” Ms Stark tweeted today.

“Last night Shannon quit the NSW LGRL board due to the distress this campaign has caused. He told me, “They win. I’m done.” My question to these ‘activists’ is who does this serve? What has been achieved for LGBTI equality by leaving a gay man feeling broken?”

Molloy is a gay man and has previously written stories about his experiences with homophobic bullying.

News Corp journalist Shannon Molloy.

Complainants against his involvement in the NSW GLRL reportedly suggested News Corp’s coverage of the Safe Schools program and queer and transgender issues meant that Molloy’s involvement in the lobby compromised its integrity.

“How can NSW GLRL call out the trans hate from News Corp when one of its national journos sits on the board?” Rodney Chiang-Cruise wrote on Twitter.

Internet troll Michael Barnett, known by his Twitter handle @mikeybear, said “it was irrelevant who the News Corp employee on the board of the GLRL was. The issue was that a News Corp employee was on their board.”

He also tweeted: “News Corp pay people to destroy Safe Schools and make the lives of transgender kids unbearable. Working for them is unethical.”

I'm a gay journo. I work at News Corp Aus and that ppl in my own community could tear down fellow LGBTI journo Shannon Molloy is shameful.

— Benedict Brook (@BenedictBrook) May 23, 2017

Many journalists and LGBTI activists have today shown their support for Molloy after his resignation, with many citing an article he wrote in February last year in which he detailed his personal experiences with bullying.

“As I pushed through the crowd of hollering teenage boys, I felt them claw at me, punch me in the back and the head, and spit on my face. “Dirty f---ing faggot!” they screamed. “You’re going to die, poofter!,” he wrote.

“I was bashed, ridiculed, taunted endlessly, you name it. I don’t speak about my adolescence often. The truth is that I’m still traumatised by the unspeakably horrific things I endured as a teenager that the mere thought of them makes me ill.”

Victorian Liberal MP and former freedom commissioner Tim Wilson said the move against Mr Molloy was disgraceful.

“This situation is extremely disappointing,” Mr Wilson said.

“This is a disgraceful outcome. Too often groups are responding to noisy voices that should be ignored. These extremists are shifting from the oppressed to the oppressor. There’s no place for such conduct in a tolerant and mutually respective Australia.”

Molloy has worked as an entertainment reporter for News Corp since 2014 and recently began working for the company as a national journalist and producer.

He has declined to comment.

UPDATE: Late tonight co-convenors of the NSW GLRL issued a statement condemning Molloy’s treatment, calling it “unacceptable” and “appalling”.

“Earlier this week, the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, as well as one of its Committee of Management members, Shannon Molloy, was on the receiving end of behaviour that was completely unacceptable,” the statement said.

“When that behaviour comes from within our own community, it should be condemned. There is a difference between having a debate on an issue, and personally attacking someone. The behaviour that has been shown this week towards particular individuals that have proudly volunteered for our organisation has been nothing short of appalling. It is damaging, and there should be consequences for those responsible.”

The organisation also offered their support and said they would welcome Molloy back “with open arms” if he ever wished to return to the lobby.

“Shannon has the total support of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, and should he ever wish to return to the organisation to help create positive change for our community, an issue which is so dear to his heart, we will welcome him back with open arms. The unwarranted abuse has to stop.”