The deputy mayor of a suburban Sydney council vilified her gay neighbour by telling him he was ‘disgusting’ and ‘shouldn’t be able to marry unless he could breastfeed’.
Just hours after Australia had voted yes to legalising same-sex marriage, Julie Passas took aim at Daniel Comensoli as he celebrated the result with friends on his balcony.
As part of his celebrations, Mr Comensoli draped a rainbow flag over the railing of his apartment in Ashfield, Sydney.
But his neighbour Ms Passas, then deputy mayor of Inner West Council, took offence to the flag and compared it to the infamous black flag symbol of Islamic State.
The details of Ms Passas’ shocking rant can be revealed after the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) found she homesexually vilified her gay neighbour in November 2017.
Daniel Comensoli (left) was vilified by Julie Passas (right) in the days after the result of the same-sex marriage vote in November 2017
On November 15, 2017 – the day of the same-sex marriage vote result – Ms Passas was said to have asked Mr Comensoli to remove his flag (pictured), claiming it was ‘offensive to her culture and religion’
On November 15 – the day of the same-sex marriage vote result – Ms Passas was said to have asked Mr Comensoli to remove his flag.
She claimed it was ‘offensive to my culture and religion’ and told him he should not be able to marry ‘until you can breastfeed and have children’.
The next morning Ms Passas ‘yelled and harassed’ Mr Comensoli’s female housemate as she left for work.
This trend of harassment continued on November 17 when Ms Passas was overheard talking to another neighbour.
During the conversation she described those living in Mr Comensoli’s apartment as ‘disgusting people’.
After overhearing the deputy mayor’s comments, Mr Comensoli began to record the conversation.
‘I said to him: My culture, my religion, and my upbringing. I don’t believe in this,’ Ms Passas told the other neighbour.
‘I said: Do I have on my place vote no? You understand what I’m saying? This no and yes business. I didn’t put it, because I don’t want to offend people who vote yes too.
‘And he said: This is my place, I can do what I want.’
Mr Comensoli claimed she then began to lobby other residents in the area to make complaints to the building owners, in the hope of having him evicted.
Ms Passas described Mr Comensoli (pictured) as ‘disgusting’ and compared the rainbow flag to an ISIS flag
Mr Comensoli told Daily Mail Australia he was glad the matter had been dealt with, bringing an end to what he described as ‘a really stressful time’
On November 18 – three days after the same-sex marriage vote result was delivered – Mr Comensoli called police, fed up with the treatment from Ms Passas.
During a visit to the apartment complex, Ms Passas compared Mr Comensoli’s flag to the ISIS logo.
‘The rainbow flag is as offensive as the flag of ISIS,’ she said.
During cross-examination before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), Ms Passas was ‘easily inflamed’ when asked about same-sex marriage.
The hearing heard she believed gay marriage ‘was offensive to her upbringing and religion’.
‘I do have a problem with the flag… (it goes) against what I believe in,’ she said.
‘(I grew up to believe) marriage is between a man and a woman. People should not commit adultery. Children should respect their parents.’
After months of campaigning across the nation, the result of the vote saw 61 per cent in favour of legalising same-sex marriage
She denied making several comments including those about gay people not being able to marry until they could ‘breastfeed and have children’.
However the tribunal found that in all instances where Mr Comensoli and Ms Passas’ evidence differed, they preferred the version offered by the victim.
Ms Passas was ordered by the tribunal to pay $2,500 to Mr Comensoli and to write an apology to be published in a local paper.
Ms Passas was not returned to the Inner West Council at last year’s elections.