The Glen Eira councillor who referenced the slippery slope argument about same-sex marriage has apologised for the comments, but he still claims he was mistranslated. Last week Crikey reported that Ho had made the case in a Chinese language chatroom, saying:

“… 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.”

Ho has since spoken to Crikey, insisting that our translation is incorrect and that he was only quoting someone else. He has not provided an alternative translation. On Tuesday night at a council meeting, Ho made the following statement:

“Late last week a number of social media outlets started to report on comments that I had made in a private WeChat group. The comments were on the topic of same sex marriage. I am very disappointed that through translation from Chinese to English these comments have been misinterpreted to allege that I think that there is a connection between same sex marriage and bestiality. This is not true and I apologise for any offence that has occurred. I have no objection to same sex marriage but was repeating comments that I had heard from other sources to show that there is a variety of views in the public on this issue. I realise now that sharing these comments, even though they were not my own, was insensitive and hurtful to people from the LGBTI community and has caused offence. I offer my sincere apology to the community and to the Council.”