Australian Candidate Compares Marriage Equality to Child Abuse

The Twitter feed of Wendy Francis, a candidate for senate in Queensland, said that marriage equality could be compared to making child abuse legal, but she denies she personally wrote the sentence.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Twitter feed for Francis, a Family First candidate, said that, "legitimising gay marriage is like legalising child abuse." Others claim they saw a different tweet with a similar point, but the candidate herself, who removed the tweet late Sunday following an outcry, said she could not recall the original content.

Whatever the antigay tweet actually said, spokespeople for her party are trying to blame the message on campaign staff members, supporters, or volunteers.

"Wendy Francis didn't post the comment herself and they were posted by somebody else on her account," said Family First federal chairman Bob Day to the ABC.