Australian politicians are now pulling out of the World Congress of Families conference. Win.

Update:

Minister for Social Services Kevin Andrews and Victorian attorney-general Robert Clark have pulled out of the World Congress of Families conference.

The Australian reports Mr Andrews said the decision followed news the event will now be hosted by right-wing group Catch the Fire — although his move follows Mamamia’s sustained campaign for politicians to boycott the anti-gay, anti-choice conference, and a petition that has attracted 5000 signatures.

Mr Andrews said in a statement reported by The Australian: “Tolerance is a critical value in a western liberal democracy like Australia.”

“It was for this reason that I intended to address the World Congress of Families meeting in Melbourne tomorrow,” Mr Andrews is quoted as saying in the statement.

“The calls for me not to attend demonstrate the intolerance of the Greens and the left — instead of arguing their case in the public arena they seek to shut down debate.

“Equally, I cannot support intolerance from other quarters. As I have been informed today that the event is now to be hosted by Catch the Fire, I have decided not to attend.”

Victorian attorney general Robert Clark pulled out of the conference on Friday afternoon. The Guardian reports that a spokesman said in a statement:

“In view of the fact that the World Congress of Families conference is now being hosted by Catch the Fire, the attorney general will not be attending the conference.”

“The attorney general had previously been scheduled to attend the conference on behalf of the government to provide a welcome to Victoria to international and interstate attendees.

“It is regrettable that some in the community have sought to prevent the conference proceeding at its original venue. In a democracy such as Victoria, all people are entitled to express their views within the law, and those who disagree should respond with argument and debate rather than by trying to prevent others from gathering to express their views.”

To support the call for other the other attending Australian politicians to pull out of this offensive conference, sign Mamamia’s petition calling for Australian politicians not to attend the conference here.

Previously, Mamamia wrote…

Organisers of the World Congress of Families conference — also known as the world festival of bigotry — due to be held in Melbourne this Saturday are in a panic.

As The Guardian Australia report, there is currently no venue willing to host their event.

Police have warned that there are security concerns this anti-gay, anti-divorce, anti-euthanasia, anti-women gathering. A protest of progressives with consciences is planned for Saturday morning — including gay rights activists, feminists, and other advocates for human rights. That’s why four Melbourne venues have refused to host the conference.

This comes after a month-long campaign by Mamamia to stop several of our politicians from attending.

The World Congress of Families is a deplorable hate group promoting dangerous lies and prejudices that genuinely threaten the safety of women, children, members of the LGBTQI community, single mothers, divorcees, cancer patients, and rape victims.

Here are some of the beliefs promoted by the WCF under the guise of “family values”:

1. Women who take the pill lose interest in sex and are more likely to be the victim of violent assault and murder.

2. Women who take the pill are more likely to engage in incest.

3. Social policies should not promote single-parenting which contributes to the decay of society’s moral values.

4. Abortion, divorce, single parents and LGBT people are responsible for promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, poverty, human trafficking, violence against women and child abuse.

5. The pill and other contraception can and has killed women all over the world. The pill also kills babies.

6. There’s a link between abortion and breast cancer.

7. The sole purpose of sex is for procreation and an expression of love between husband and wife in the covenant of marriage. All other sexual activity cannot satisfy the human spirit and leads to remorse, alienation and disease.

8. Vladimir Putin’s draconian homosexual vilification laws that send LGBT Russians to prison are a ‘great idea’ that the rest of the world should follow. Russia is the Christian saviour to the world and Putin is heroically preventing Russian LGBT people from corrupting children.

9. All forms of non-heterosexual sex is a sin and gay people should be converted to heterosexuality via Christian therapy.

Just this week, the Human Rights Campaign wrote that, “the WCF’s role in the export of hate cannot be overstated.” Which is entirely accurate. Saturday’s event is a festival of bigotry attended by several of our federally elected ministers.

Delegates from the WCF will touch down in Australia tomorrow, ready to visit politicians in Canberra and then fly to Melbourne for Saturday’s day-long conference.

It is a significant victory that four venues have pulled out of hosting this event, but our work here is not quite done. We want this conference cancelled altogether. We want to send the message loud and clear: A group responsible for spreading this much hate is not welcome in our country.

What we need to do now is share this post as widely as we can and sign this petition so that our politicians know that we do not support their attendance at this conference or any other conference that dares to represent “family values” in this way.

Once we’ve done that, we can celebrate.