Writing in the Weekend Australian, Christopher Pearson exposed how homosexual activists caused the website On Line Opinion to promise not to post anymore articles against homosexual marriage, after the activists monstered them and their sponsors about an article by Bill Muehlenberg (forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=11268) critical of it.
"Anyone involved in trying to defend marriage and the natural structures of family against this lobby, is used to the stream of vitriol and abuse that greets any view contrary to their agenda," said ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace, "but the silencing of alternate views through On Line Opinion, and who knows what other social and conventional media, is beyond the pail in a democratic society."
"But we should be especially appalled that ANZ and IBM would submit to the clear tactic of this very aggressive Lobby to close down debate on a very important issue," said Mr Wallace "and especially when the public at large had no way of knowing that the debate was being censored and would not have expected it to be on a forum for debate of as high standing as On Line Opinion,".
ACL called on ANZ and IBM to:
· Immediately restore their sponsorship to On Line Opinion,
· Commit to exerting no further editorial pressure without declaring it publicly, and
· To explain why they had allowed themselves to be co-opted by this lobby into limiting free expression and speech so deceptively, and on a medium in which the public should be able to have full confidence.
"If we are to have a full debate on this issue it must be that," said Mr Wallace, "not one closed down by abuse and deceptive tactics or corporate pressure and collusion to limit free speech, as we have seen used here by homosexual activists and their apparent allies."