Australian MP accuses homosexuals of stealing the word 'gay'

"It has a particular meaning to me because I got 84 percent in English," he said.
"It has a particular meaning to me because I got 84 percent in English," he said. Photo credit: Getty

Conservative Australian MP Bob Katter has accused homosexuals of stealing the word 'gay'.

"I have a very clear idea of what is going on here: the homosexuals in Australia, they took the word gay," he said.

Mr Katter told Sky News that he was furious gay people had "taken" the word.

"It was the most beautiful word in the English language, and they said 'oh god we will take that word and we will have it as ours'," Mr Katter said.

He went on to talk about studying the 18th century poem The Rape of the Lock in high school, where the word 'gay' is used to mean 'happy'.

"It has a particular meaning to me because I got 84 percent in English, in matriculation, which was a very, very high mark indeed," he said.

He worries gay people will also "take" marriage and freedom of speech.

"Oh they've got this thing called marriage, the other mob, we will take that too. Well what else are they going to take? Are they going to take our freedom to say we don't approve of what you are doing?"

Mr Katter has, in past, claimed there were almost no gay people in North Queensland.

"That is what is happening here, they are taking it away from us, the same as the most beautiful word in the English language was taken away from all of us and they took it for themselves," he said.

This comes ahead of Australia's upcoming postal poll for marriage equality.

Newshub.