Warren Entsch makes emotional plea to Liberal colleagues over gay marriage
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Version 0 of 1. A Liberal MP has made a heartfelt plea for society to accept individuals regardless of their sexual or gender identity after being moved by a new video documenting the torment some people endure when they consider coming out as gay. North Queensland-based MP Warren Entsch, who is championing cross-party efforts to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia, said he planned to use Lachlan Beaton’s video message about his personal struggle to persuade other politicians to back the reform. “The cemeteries are full – are full – of people that have never been able to come to terms with their sexuality and that’s a fact,” Entsch told Guardian Australia. “Why should we as a society do things that will contribute to filling those bloody vacant spaces in cemeteries because we’re not prepared to accept the worth of an individual for who they really are?” Entsch made the comments as he praised Beaton – who grew up in regional Victoria but now lives in New York – for sharing a personal story about the experience of hiding his sexuality for years. In a video message posted on YouTube and seen by thousands of people, Beaton said he knew he was gay when he was about 14 or 15 years old but was from an area “where it felt wrong to be gay” and kept it hidden for another 12 years. “No one should ever feel like this,” Beaton said. “For years I hated myself, I hated who I was; I would cry on a weekly basis wishing that I wasn’t the person that I was born into this world.” The tears “turned into months of depression”, he said. Beaton admitted to “self-destructive” behaviour as he struggled with feelings of low self-worth and tried to numb the pain by drinking too much. He spoke of how he “would go to great lengths to hide it” – which was incredibly tiring – and that there were times when he had suicidal thoughts and “just didn’t want to exist”. “So until the age of 27 when I came out I can honestly say that I actually hated the person that I was – and that is one very, very tough thing to live with,” Beaton said. “It’s time to stop this. It’s time to stop young people making them feel like it’s wrong to be gay, and whilst [same-sex] marriage is not allowed in Australia ... people will feel like this. People will hide. People will hate themselves and, trust me, you live with that hate for a long, long, long time. It’s close. It clearly is a matter of one or two MPs changing their minds and this gets over the line “I’m one of the lucky ones who was very well-accepted when I came out. When I was 27 I met someone that I really, really loved and I decided to come out. My friends and my family accepted me for who I was, and I’m so, so lucky for that.” Beaton’s twin brother, Charles Beaton, said it was an “absolute surprise” when Lachlan told him at the end of 2007 that he was gay. “I had no idea at all, and we are very close,” Charles said. “The fact that I didn’t know and we lived together for the last 18 months of that period in a very small apartment is testament to the fact of how big the secret was, because throughout this time he was seeing people and going out and meeting people. It was a massive secret.” Charles said Lachlan had decided that now was the right time to tell his story to the public, partly to persuade Australian MPs to back marriage equality. “It’s close. It clearly is a matter of one or two MPs changing their minds and this gets over the line,” Charles said. “He has probably never been ready until now to actually talk so openly because some of the video was news to everyone. I, as his twin brother, knew a lot of it but not all of it, not how bad it actually got from a mental health perspective.” Charles sent the video to numerous MPs, including Entsch, who plans to introduce a marriage equality bill backed by Liberal, Labor, Greens and independent MPs when parliament resumes in August. Charles said receiving a personal phone call from Entsch as a result of the email was “probably one of the more emotional 15 minutes of my life to be honest”. “He reiterated numerous times for me to tell Lachlan how proud he was that he was doing this,” Charles said. “It was a pretty blunt conversation … He gets the association between identity and mental health, suicide, all the issues that flow from it.” Gay, lesbian and bisexual people attempt suicide at rates between 3.5 and 14 times those of their heterosexual peers, according to a position statement by Suicide Prevention Australia. A report by the National LGBTI Health Alliance said at least 36.2% of transgender and 24.4% of gay, lesbian and bisexual Australians met the criteria for experiencing a major depressive episode in 2005, compared with 6.8% of the general population. The same report said there was a lack of data about intersex people but overseas research and anecdotal evidence in Australia pointed to “rates of suicidal tendencies and self-harming behaviour well above those of the general population”. Entsch decided to make the phone call after receiving emails from Charles and the parents telling Lachlan’s story. In an interview, the MP for the Queensland seat of Leichhardt said: “I first of all asked him to pass on my thanks to his parents for raising him, and I think it’s important to do that, and secondly to pass on to his brother my great pride that I have for him, for his strength, of being true to who he really is, [and] the family who are prepared to stand beside him and being proud of him for the incredibly strong, courageous and special human being that he is.” Entsch said he “absolutely” intended to use the video to help make the case to MPs who remained undecided about the importance of marriage equality. But he declined to comment on the prospects of achieving a free vote so that Coalition MPs can vote according to their conscience. Related: Cross-party same-sex marriage bill to be introduced in August Conservative forces within the Liberal party are opposing the push to change the section of the Marriage Act that defines it as a union between a man and a woman. The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has played down the prospect of the private member’s bill even proceeding to a vote in parliament, but Liberal moderates argue the party should respectfully consider the proposal. Entsch said he would “have a lot more to say” after the bill was presented to parliament. He wanted show dignity and respect for the process. “People like Lachlan and his parents and his brother are entitled to that,” Entsch said. Charles said Lachlan planned to get married next year, probably overseas, “hopefully in Australia, but who knows”. |