Former PM’s sister offends gays, Jews with “global gay Gestapo” comment

The sister of Australia’s foreign minister Kevin Rudd offended gay and Jewish groups after she accused some Labor members of being brainwashed by a "global gay Gestapo."

The Australian reports that Loree Rudd, the sister of Australia’s former prime minister is lobbying Federal politicians to withdraw any support they may have for gay marriage.

Rudd is a devout Christian who has threatened to resign her membership of the Labor Party if they back gay marriage at its national conference in December.

She described the gay rights movement as a “global gay Gestapo” who are “brainwashing people.”

"I call them the global gay Gestapo: it is the lobbying movement that is brainwashing people, particularly the young in the community that this [homosexuality] is an optional extra in life," she said.

But her comments have provoked outrage in Australia, with groups saying her comments will incite hatred.

Australian Marriage Equality (AME), the gay marriage lobby group has demanded Ms Rudd apologize for her comments.

"Ms Rudd has set back her cause by comparing supporters of civil rights to an organization that was responsible for mass murder, including the mass murder of homosexuals," AME convener Alex Greenwich said in a statement.

Sydney man and Holocaust survivor Frederick Wising, who supports gay marriage, was upset by Rudd’s comments.

"I spent three years in a concentration camp as a child and I am horrified by this comparison between the Gestapo and ordinary citizens like me who just want to be treated equally," he said in the statement.

Rudd said she'd embarked on her campaign without her brother's knowledge.