A Liberal Party councillor has said legalising same-sex marriage could open the door to legalising bestiality on Chinese social media platform WeChat. In a forum hosted by the Chinese HighFun media company, Glen Eira councillor Kelvin Ho said (translated from Chinese):

“… at the moment the problem is that same sex legislation has become trendy meaning it will probably pass. Experts warn that if the legislation passes then it is likely that bestiality laws will come next, then what? Australia follows case law, which means that once a precedent has been set, then a debate can occur, which is when the real problem arises.”

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The comments were picked up by a blogger, who says the forums have become a popular forum for Australian political campaigning, with Liberal candidate for the seat of Hotham, George Hua, using it to campaign before campaigning was banned in the group on Wednesday. We are told that the group is a public chat room with about 500 people, including many Chinese immigrants to Australia.

We are told the comment was made in relation to a post regarding the Safe Schools program, and that another member said that same-sex relations were natural and had happened throughout history. Ho told Crikey that he was in the group in a personal capacity and said it was a private forum. “That’s private chat room and it’s my personal view of same sex marriage. And I mention someone will apply for legalise bestiality, please make clear translation on this part.”

Crikey has had the comments translated by three people, Councillor Ho says the translation is incorrect, but has not provided details on where he believes it is inaccurate.