Image from Katter ad reappears in homophobic campaign in western Sydney

NEW SOUTH WALES: The distinctive image of a gay couple posing with a stomach prosthesis used in the controversial anti-gay television ads by Katter’s Australian Party prior to the Queensland state election has popped up once again, this time in Sydney’s west as part of a homophobic poster campaign in the electorate of Immigration Minister Chris Bowen.

The images were plastered on light poles about a week ago in the main thoroughfare of Fairfield with words on the posters declaring, “They are not the same”, before calling on people to contact Bowen’s office.

Bowen told his local newspaper, the Fairfield Advance, that the posters were not supported by his office and that he had been contacted by “many residents and shop owners” upset by the poster campaign.

“The posters throughout Fairfield encouraging residents to contact me about same sex marriage did not come from my office,” Bowen said.

“These posters are inappropriate, inconsiderate and illegal – and I will be writing to the AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) asking them to investigate and request that Fairfield Council take them down.”

One local resident said “there are just so many things wrong” with the posters.

“I can confidently say that Fairfield has moved on from these ways of thinking,” he said.

“Pandering to ignorance, fear and vulgarity is an insult to people who live in Fairfield.”

Fairfield Council has removed the posters after declaring them illegal.

The French photographer responsible for the original image – taken to highlight the issue of gay adoption – was upset when he found out in mid-March that his photo was being used in political advertisements to attack the gay community in Australia.