今日吃瓜

THE World Congress of Families conference went ahead today amidst聽protests and a large police presence, despite almost every politician聽involved with the event pulling out over the last few days.

Family and sexuality were major themes for most conference speakers,聽with many promoting the 鈥渘atural family鈥� as children living with two married parents, a biological mother and father.

While most speakers went out of their way not to explicitly mention LGBTI issues, frequent references made to 鈥渘on-traditional families鈥� and 鈥渁ttacks on marriage鈥� meant rainbow families were very much in the spotlight.

NSW upper house Christian Democratic Party MP Fred Nile spoke more directly about homosexuality, discussing it as a major focus of his 30 years in parliament.

Looks like this is genuinely just a greatest hits tour of Fred Nile’s 30 years in NSW Parliament. And the audience is loving it.

鈥� Benjamin Riley (@bencriley)

No one today has talked about homosexuality today as much as Fred Nile, by a long shot. Unclear what his intended topic was. 鈥� Benjamin Riley (@bencriley)

Big round of applause for Fred Nile as the only MP here today.

鈥� Benjamin Riley (@bencriley)

Outside the venue, protesters booed conference delegates as they entered through a line of police officers guarding the gate, and two people were arrested in what protesters argued were unprovoked actions on the part of police.

Others reported police using Victoria鈥檚 new 鈥渕ove on鈥� laws to clear people from the area.

Aside from the arrests early in the day, the demonstration outside was largely free of incident, though the presence of Victoria Police鈥檚 mounted branch sparked fears the protests could escalate.

Two protesters managed to get inside the venue and stage a demonstration on the conference stage, with one woman spraying her crotch with fake blood to represent 鈥渂ackyard abortions鈥�.

One of the two people involved in the protest inside the venue told the Star Observer they entered the venue as registered participants, but said they were forcibly removed by the venue security immediately after the protest.

鈥淚 was filming, sitting down in one of the chairs, and the gentleman next to me grabbed at my phone when he saw that I was filming and missed my phone so he kept grabbing my arm and wrenching my arm to try to get me to release my phone,鈥� the protester said, declining to give her name.

One conference organiser told the Star Observer they had been suspicious of the two women, believing they had dressed as 鈥渟tereotypes鈥� of conservative Christians.

Most speakers throughout the day addressed both the protesters outside the venue and the media coverage of the past week, with many 鈥渄isappointed鈥� by the cancellation of high-profile MPs including Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews and Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark.

Delegates were also advised not to speak to the crowds of protesters, fearing they might say something inappropriate in response to the protests.

Delegates being advised not to talk to protesters in case “passion” leads them to say something they’ll regret.

鈥� Benjamin Riley (@bencriley)

After cancellations by a number of venues around Melbourne, the conference was held at Catch the Fire ministries, which is affiliated with the far-right, anti-multicultural Rise Up Australia party.

Party founder Danny Nalliah is infamous for linking the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires that killed 173 people to Victoria鈥檚 abortion legislation.

Rise Up Australia had a significant presence at the event, with the party鈥檚 campaign material distributed to conference delegates and their policies being promoted by conference organisers.

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