Mark Latham's tweet shocked the political world. But it wasn't the first time the controversial political leader has sparked controversy over a 'gay' comment

  • Latham was sacked from Sky in 2017 over 'gay' remarks 
  • He said he thought a high school student was gay in video
  • Now, he's facing backlash over 'homophobic' comments 

By Brittany Chain, Political Correspondent For Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

Mark Latham was sacked as a Sky News commentator in 2017 after he made comments about a teenager's sexuality on air.

The NSW One Nation leader is again facing calls to lose his job after a crude remark he made toward independent MP Alex Greenwich on Twitter on Thursday.

He was quick to remove the homophobic slur but not before it was re-shared by critics demanding an apology.

As he faces criticism - including from national One Nation leader Pauline Hanson - attention has again turned to the incident from six years ago.

The remarks he made on that occasion were directed to a student from Sydney Boys High School who featured in a video celebrating feminism.

Latham referred to the teenagers in the video as 'd***heads' while appearing on the Outsiders program in March of that year, adding: 'I thought the first guy was gay.' 

Mark Latham was sacked as a Sky News commentator in 2017 after he made comments about a teenager's sexuality on air

Mark Latham was sacked as a Sky News commentator in 2017 after he made comments about a teenager's sexuality on air

Backlash to his comments was swift and within two weeks Sky News chief executive officer Angelos Frangopoulos confirmed he'd been sacked as a commentator for the channel.

'While we support strong opinions and robust arguments we pride ourselves in doing so in a civil and respectful manner,' he said in announcing the decision. 

Politicians on all sides of politics slammed Latham on that occasion. Bill Shorten, then leader of Latham's old party, described the comments as 'sad, attention seeking behaviour' and said he was acting 'like a bully'.

Then-federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham told Latham to 'pick on someone his own size'.

Latham took to Twitter to defend his comments on that occasion, telling his followers: 'Why does bigoted Left assume use of word 'gay' automatically negative?' 

'I love gays. Away from poisonous Left politics, they are great people.' 

The NSW One Nation leader is again facing calls for him to lose his job after a crude remark he made toward independent MP Alex Greenwich on Twitter on Thursday

The NSW One Nation leader is again facing calls for him to lose his job after a crude remark he made toward independent MP Alex Greenwich on Twitter on Thursday

Latham took to Twitter to defend his comments on that occasion, telling his followers: 'Why does bigoted Left assume use of word 'gay' automatically negative?' 'I love gays. Away from poisonous Left politics, they are great people'

Latham took to Twitter to defend his comments on that occasion, telling his followers: 'Why does bigoted Left assume use of word 'gay' automatically negative?' 'I love gays. Away from poisonous Left politics, they are great people'

There are mounting calls now for Latham to step down as a member of the NSW Legislative Council.

He was only re-elected for a new eight-year term last weekend, as leader of NSW's One Nation party.

But Pauline Hanson publicly joined condemnation of Latham's comments toward Latham, revealing she'd tried calling him to ask him to issue a public apology but he had not responded.

'I've actually tried to ring Mark a couple of times, to no avail. And I have clearly sent a text message to him, telling him my views,' she said.

As he hunkers down in an attempt to avoid the widespread criticism - including from national One Nation leader Pauline Hanson - attention has again turned to the incident from 2017

As he hunkers down in an attempt to avoid the widespread criticism - including from national One Nation leader Pauline Hanson - attention has again turned to the incident from 2017

There are mounting calls now for Latham to step down as a member of the NSW Legislative Council. He was only re-elected for a new eight-year term last weekend, as leader of NSW's One Nation party

There are mounting calls now for Latham to step down as a member of the NSW Legislative Council. He was only re-elected for a new eight-year term last weekend, as leader of NSW's One Nation party

'I've asked him to give the people an apology. I will leave it at that. It is now over to Mark to answer to the people.'

Latham swiftly deleted his post attacking independent state MP Alex Greenwich on Thursday but, in a seeming act of defiance, has liked several comments supporting his position.

He appears to have gone into hiding and is not taking calls as of Friday morning after he objected to Greenwich calling him 'disgusting' after giving a speech to a church while Christian Lives Matter protesters allegedly clashed with LGBTQI demonstrators. 

Latham responded by tweeting: 'Disgusting? How does that compare with sticking your d*** up a bloke's a*** and covering it with s***?'

New NSW Premier Chris Minns said the comments were 'vile'.

'I think they're vile and shameful comments and I think he's revealed himself to be a bigot,' he said.

'One of the things that can't be forgotten is that comments like this, even though in and of themselves, they're terrible, they unleash ghouls on people.'

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