Sentient foot wart Mark Latham is under investigation by NSW Police after he posted a gross tweet which appeared to target MP Alex Greenwich‘s sexuality.
Greenwich reported the foul tweet to NSW Police, and accused the One Nation leader of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.
“Officers attached to Surry Hills Police Area Command have commenced an investigation after receiving reports of online harassment directed at a 42-year-old man,” NSW Police said in a statement, per ABC.
“Inquiries are continuing.”
Independent MP @AlexGreenwich announcing he’s reported Mark Latham to police, and is also considering defamation action against the One Nation Leader over a homophonic tweet. @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/UI9D3z9YbZ
— Amelia Brace (@AmeliaBrace) May 1, 2023
If you haven’t been following this story, Latham published the nasty tweet in March under a thread relating to a Sydney Morning Herald article about LGBTQIA+ protesters outside one of his speaking events, in which Greenwich slammed Latham’s homophobic politics as “disgusting”.
Latham’s response was so vile, we’ve decided not to repeat it, but the TL;DR is that it appeared to target Greenwich’s sexuality and relationship with his husband.
Latham kept the tweet up for hours despite backlash, but it’s since been deleted. However, he refuses to apologise for what he said — even sharing another tweet that said “never apologise, never explain” 24 hours after the homophobic one and doubling down in a statement to news.com.au.
“Sometimes in public life when you throw out insults they come back at you harder and truer … So boo-hoo Alex Greenwich,” he said.
In a radio interview Mark Latham said finding the thought of gay sex “vomit-worthy” is “integral to [straight men’s] existence” lol
Most of the straight men I know don’t actually think about gay sex as much as he does, let alone centre their existence on it 🤷♀️
— Strewth 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (@StrewthQueen) April 27, 2023
Greenwich is not letting that BS slide.
Aside from the police report, he has also lodged an official complaint to the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW for “homosexual vilification”, and he’s said if Latham doesn’t apologise he’ll launch defamation proceedings too.
“Enough is enough,” he said in a statement.
“I’ve been openly gay in public life for 15 years and in parliament for over 10 years, and never have I experienced such a homophobic, sexualised attack that exposed me to contempt, ridicule and extreme abuse, based on my sexuality.
“It’s 2023 and LGBTQIA+ Australians shouldn’t have to put up with abuse that targets our sexuality, character, or ability to do our jobs.”
It’s not the first time Mark Latham has gotten in legal trouble for bigoted tweets.
In 2018, Mark Latham was forced to pay damages as well as more than $100,000 in legal costs to journalist Osman Faruqi after he accused Faruqi of “aiding and abetting Islamic terrorism” and fostering “anti-white racism in Australia”.
Latham tweeted Nizamdeen was “plotting to kill senior federal MPs and blow up Sydney Opera House and police/train stations” and urged people to avoid Nizamdeen “and his mates”. I’m sensing a pattern here.
Two of Latham’s tweets also remained online for months after Nizamdeen was exonerated, and unsurprisingly, Latham ended up settling the suit.
At a time when overt homophobia is on the rise and attacks on queer people become more brazen — just look at the far right protests against trans people and drag queens — cases like this are important and set a precedent.
It’s 2023, FFS. We need to put a stop to this regression.
If you’d like to talk about the issues raised in this story, you can call the QLife LGBTI peer support hotline on 1800 184 527 or chat online.
QLife operates between 3pm and midnight daily.
You can also report instances of racism or discrimination to the Australian Human Rights Commission on 1300 656 419 or lodge a complaint online.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
