LABELLING members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community as "different" could have a devastating impact on people questioning their sexuality, according to advocate Nicholas Steepe.
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During the July meeting of Dubbo City Council earlier in the week, councillor Allan Smith said same-sex relationships were different from heterosexual relationships.
"A relationship between a woman and a woman, and a man and a man, and a woman and a man are different. You can curry it anyway you like it, we are different," Cr Smith said.
"We should have the same protections under the law but there are differences."
Mr Steepe said while the comments might not be seen as hurtful, they were offensive to the LGBTI community.
"In my opinion, what's going to change people's lives and make a more positive impact is acceptance and that's not going to happen if people say [the LGBTI community] are different," he said.
"It sends a message that they need to hide it, that they can't be themselves because they're not accepted by the community and their elected representatives.
"I'm not going to speak for everyone else but my personal opinion is that it's hurtful and offensive.
"I talked openly at council last month about my personal experiences getting bullied by people who did not accept my personality. I did contemplate suicide because I was labelled as different."
Mr Steepe said "love was love" regardless of gender and people, especially Dubbo's elected representatives, should think more carefully about their words and the impact they have.
Cr Smith made the comments during discussions on a motion calling for representations to be made to the federal government to hold a referendum on extending civil marriage rights to same sex unions.
"I've had people come up and say to me 'we're proud to be gay', 'we're proud'. I respect that view, but I'm also proud to be heterosexual," he said.
"I've been married 40 years and I'm quite happy when someone walks in and asks me 'am I married' to say 'yes', because it recognises at this stage that it's between a man and a woman.
"I don't want to add another sentence that says 'yes I'm married, I'm married to a woman'. Call it greedy if you like."
Cr Smith, who voted in favour of the motion, said it should be the federal government, and the people of Australia, who made a decision on same sex marriage.
