Rugby star Israel Folau has defied his public critics by restating his opposition to same-sex marriage as Australia’s ballot on the matter reaches its final stages.
As Breitbart News reported, Folau was on the receiving end of ferocious criticism last month when he took to Twitter to voice his public opposition to any plans to change existing laws and allow homosexuals to marry.
Now he has returned to the debate and publicly re-stated his personal opinion in a move that will reignite the abuse that marked the Wallaby fullback’s last step into the heated same-sex marriage debate. Not that he appears to care.
“I’m going to stand firm on what I’ve said, that’s what I believe in,” said Folau, who is a devout Christian, Rugby.com.au reported. “I guess it doesn’t change anything for me and my mindset is still first hand with what’s going on here with the Wallabies.
“It hasn’t really had an effect on me at all, so I stand firm on what I believe in and what I said.”
Folau was raised as a Mormon but he and his family switched to the Assemblies of God church in 2011.
As Breitbart News reported, the same-sex marriage debate in Australia is proving to be fiercely divisive. The postal ballot was called after the conservative government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull preferred option of a national referendum was twice rejected by the upper house.
The final result of the nation-wide poll will be announced on November 15. Mr. Turnbull has said there will be a vote in Parliament by the end of the year if the majority of surveys returned is for changing the laws to allow gay marriage.
Opponents argue that changing existing Australian marriage laws would infringe on religious freedom and children’s rights.
As for Folau, he can point to a level of public support that defies his most vociferous critics. His original tweet has now garnered over 8,000 ‘likes’ on the social media network.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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