Fridae

A Roman Catholic priest has been sacked from his voluntary position at Perth's Edith Cowan University (ECU) last week after publicly backing an anti-gay law reform lobby.

Father David Watt had signed a public notice saying the Western Australian Labor Government should not give formal recognition to same-sex relationships, reported The West Australian.

The full-page advertisement headlined "Families at Risk" appeared in a local daily newspaper and had identified Father Watt as the Catholic chaplain of the university.

The ad, which ran in early November, read, "Marriage and homosexual relationships are not equivalent and therefore should not be treated as equivalent under the law," was to publicise a rally held in opposition to the Government's proposals.

The ad comes amid heated debate in the State over proposed new legislation - introduced to State Parliament last week - to give homosexuals the same rights as others in the community. The reform would bring Western Australia into line with laws already operating in most Australian States. In Western Australia, sex in private between consenting men up to age 21 is still technically a crime.

The wide-ranging reforms include allowing same sex couples to adopt children, giving infertile lesbians access to IVF treatment and equalising the age of consent in WA from 21 to the current heterosexual age of 16.

Two thousand protesters including pro-family groups and Father Watt attended a rally to protest the proposed reform.

The university moved quickly to sack the priest and told Catholic Archbishop Barry Hickey in a letter it no longer required Watt's services because of his "recent public actions", the paper said.

An ECU spokeswoman said Father Watt had been sacked from his voluntary position at Edith Cowan because he had linked the university to his anti-gay views.

"He quite clearly breached the university guidelines on such matter and caused us great distress by associating the university with his anti-gay views," she said.

Catholic Archbishop of Perth Barry Hickey who had also signed the public notice said he did not accept the sacking, which he was told about in a letter from the university.

He added that he felt Father Watt is completely justified in his actions there was nothing in the university's guidelines to suggest Father Watt needed university permission to voice his opinion on issues.

ECU vice chancellor Millicent Poole has however indicated the university will not reverse its position, saying that Father Watt had publicly misrepresented ECU's position on gay rights and reneged on an agreement to be "unbiased in support of our entire student population."

The Archbishop and university representatives will meet this week to resolve the issue.