Aussie Activists Angered By "Ex-Gay" Letter Published By Catholic High School

In its alumni newsletter, a Catholic high school in New South Wales, Australia has published a letter from an "ex-gay" former student that local activists say calls for the murder of homosexuals.

Xavier High School in Albury printed the letter, written by former student Matt Price, in the latest edition of its alumni newsletter Xavier. Mr Price said he was "trying to make the world free of homosexuals", who live lives devoted to "sex and drugs". "The gay side of life, all it's ever been is going out and doing that sort of stuff … the world just really doesn't need that," he said. Mr Price said he was a "cured" homosexual and now lived in Noosa working as a registered nurse. Anti-discrimination campaigner Garry Burns blasted Xavier High's decision to publish the letter, saying he understood Mr Price's letter to mean that gays and lesbians should be killed. "It says he wants the removal of homosexuals from the face of the earth and there's only one way to interpret that," Burns told ninemsn. "There are people out there who will express that endorsement through bashings, murder and all sorts of things … they'll go out and say the Catholic Church is right: 'let's get a poof and kill him'."

Xavier High School headmaster Neville Powells offers a not-apology: “Letters to the editor in any publication are the views of the author and not necessarily the views of the editor or organisation. We live in a country where free speech is available to all. That said, I apologise for any offence caused … none was intended.”