Welsh councillor: Lesbians should ‘get a Barbie doll’ if they want to be parents
An independent councillor in Wales has not been punished – after claiming that gay women who want to be parents should get a Barbie doll.
Mike Harris, who sits on Torfaen County Council for Pontypool, faced a disciplinary hearing over posts he made on Facebook – but did not face punished.
Sharing a debunked Daily Mail story that claimed the NHS was to open a “sperm bank for lesbians”, he claimed: “Totally and ethically wrong in my opinion! They should buy a Barbie doll if they want to play at being a mum.”
In a second post, he shared the article “Hamas executes 11 Israeli informers”, writing “Once a Muzzy”.
Mr Harris faced a disciplinary – but WalesOnline reports he denied the term was a pejorative for Muslim – but rather an “old English word which had the dictionary meaning of mess, confusion, chaos, disorder”.
The council’s report found that “there is no suggestion that Cllr Harris was acting in an official capacity” when he made the comments.
It added: “He feels this comment expresses his Christian belief (though he does not attend Church)
The report says Cllr Harris claimed: “He is not homophobic but feels this is ethically and morally wrong. It is his freedom of speech to express his views
“That the normal upbringing for a child is to have a male father and female mother though he is not against sperm banks
“He feels ’Mother’ means giving birth and that the other female is a ‘Guardian’ and that was not being a Mum in his view
“He also mentioned that when science intervenes, mistakes can happen e.g. where sperm banks get things mixed up.”
The council committee found the posts were offensive, but didn’t breach the code of conduct.
Cllr Harris told WalesOnline: “I wasn’t cautioned, I wasn’t censured. I wasn’t found in breach. There was no action.
“It’s a victory for freedom of speech. It’s right and just that they found no breach.”
