From last week’s ABC QA. Roll the tape:
DAVID POCOCK: Yeah, I have never really been one to preach and try and get the guys around me to believe what I believe.
However.
I think, you know, your personal is political so you’ve got to use your profile or whatever and get your beliefs across and things like that are really important to you. I think it’s important that you speak up about things like equal rights in marriage, all those sorts of things and start to ask bigger questions than it just being about you and your sport because, I mean, you’ve got young guys sort of looking up to you for playing rugby and you don’t want them to think, you know, there’s a guy who never, you know, protests about anything, just takes the money.
Hang on? What about never being one to preach (incoherently)? It continues.
You know, he’s got the clichéd, you know, wife, car, house, all that sort of thing. I don’t think that is great for society.
Yeah, imagine that.
You want to see people who are actually standing up for things that they believe in and trying to give back to society because as athletes you’re very privileged. You’re benefitting from society. So it’s so important that you give back and actually encourage more debate.
It did not end there though.
DAVID POCOCK: Yeah. When we started talking about getting married, you know, we have got friends who are in loving, committed, monogamous relationships but don’t have the opportunity to get married and so we decided that until they have that opportunity, we wouldn’t. You know, it’s is a personal decision and, you know, I really think the debate about equal rights in marriage, it really has to move forward and can’t be used as a political football by the two parties.
It is rather remarkable that nearly every Q&A programme has a discussion about same sex marriage. It gets worse.
We have to be challenging homophobia so that people, regardless of their sexuality, can express that. And with John I think, you know, the biggest thing in this debate is that we’re dealing with people here and how can you blame someone for what they are? People don’t choose their sexuality and we marginalise the LGBTI community for what they are. So I think this is a conversation that needs to be had but we need to, you know, discuss it compassionately and actually come to a – something that is reasonable. In my mind that’s marriage for everyone, regardless of their sexuality. We have moved forward on so many other issues and I think this is the next progression.
So opposition to same sex marriage means you have a mental problem. mmmm. Not certain what LGBTI stands for. Possibly the Lesbian, Gay, Bi Torres straight Island community.