By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
Councillor declares he is homosexual to show leadership…
CASEY councillor Rafal Kaplon has come out as gay after his fellow Four Oaks Ward councillor Rosalie Crestani attempted to stop the City of Casey promoting awareness of different sexual orientation.
Cr Kaplon announced he was homosexual following a tumultuous council meeting on Tuesday last week.
Cr Crestani tried to raise a motion that sought to stop the council from issuing press releases and remove signs concerning sexual orientation or the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community.
She also sought to abolish the council’s LGBTI diversity training program.
However, none of her fellow councillors supported her push.
In a statement released after the meeting, Cr Kaplan said: “I chose to make the personal disclosure that I did in my statement at this time on a matter which is normally private and of no relevance or importance to my daily life because I believe this issue called for a show of strong community leadership.”
“And it is pivotal for Casey GLBTQI youth to know that there is nothing wrong with them, and that they have support from the wider community and members of the council.”
Cr Kaplon said he was “relieved” that Cr Crestani’s motion did not pass and that the City of Casey remained “accessible and inclusive for all and not just some”.
“Cr Crestani justified her Notice of Motion as not being against the GLBTQI community but rather to stop singling out groups for special treatment and protecting heterosexuals from discrimination,” he said.
“However I sadly feel that the motion was nothing more than a cheap political ploy by the Rise Up Australia Party and the mischievous “Lord” Christopher Monckton who was present in the chamber to gain traction before the state election by picking on the Muslim and GLBTQI minority groups.”
Cr Crestani, who is a candidate for the Rise Up Australia Party in Saturday’s state election, continued to push for her motion to be heard at an emergency meeting hurriedly convened on Thursday night.
Mayor Mick Morland shut down her attempts and instead the council reaffirmed its commitment to the LGBTI community.
Cr Crestani called it an “abuse of process”.
Lord Monckton, who confirmed on Thursday that he was assisting the Rise Up Australia Party with its election campaign, said he and Cr Crestani would seek legal advice after the decision.
Lord Monckton said the Mayor had committed breaches of the local law, and that he and Cr Crestani would continue to seek the counsel of a “jurisprudential theorist” on the issue, who he refused to name.
But fellow councillor Gary Rowe hit back at the claims of illegality, and said to “bring it on”.
“It’s a pathetic weak attack on a group, using them for their political purposes,” Cr Rowe said.
“I really question the supposed Christian values behind it”
He said council had committed no breaches of the local law.
“Monckton is not a resident of Australia and I’d suggest his understanding of our constitution and the Local Government Act is zero,” Cr Rowe said.
