Doctors targeted for participation in petition
Health professionals who signed a petition opposing changes to the Marriage Act have been condemned online for their beliefs and individually targeted.
The petition, created by lobby group Doctors for the Family, received 150 signatures and was sent to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on March 28.
The document was one of 355 submissions received by the Senate committee to be published online out of a total 75,000 submissions from individuals and groups both in favour and against same-sex marriage.
A Western Australian doctor who signed the petition received a text message from another doctor singling out their involvement with the document and discouraging their actions.
In New South Wales, a patient reportedly withdrew from their doctor’s services after they discovered the doctor was a supporter of the petition.
The publically available document lists the names of all signers and originally included their addresses, which were removed by the Senate committee before it was released into the public domain.
WA-based GP Lachlan Dunjey founded Doctors for the Family in November 2011 and said he is not surprised the group is being targeted.
“It is part of a campaign to embarrass the doctors, get people of homosexual persuasion to refuse to see those doctors or harass them.”
The National LGBTI Health Alliance released a statement today saying it unequivocally condemns any kind of threats made towards the individual doctors who signed the petition.
Acting General Manager of the Alliance, Sujay Kentlyn, said threats of violence towards individuals are never justified.
“We understand that many people in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) communities were very hurt and angry about some of the claims made in this group’s submission. But that is never an excuse for threats or violence directed towards doctors and their families.”
All signers of the Doctors for Family petition have been notified to report any threats made to them to Dr Dunjey.