Welcome voices in Folau debate

bound for hell unless they ‘‘repent of their sins’’.

Folau has every right to hold the opinions he does, however archaic they might be. But others have a right to reject them just as strongly. For too long, Folau’s employer, Rugby Australia, has been reluctant to take a stance on the issue, and many others in the game have been only too happy to follow its timorous lead.

So it is to the enormous credit of Weber and Perenara that they have been willing to add their voices to the debate. And what strong voices they have been. Chiefs halfback Weber was the first, writing on Twitter: ‘‘My cousin and her partner, and my aunty and her partner, are some of the most kind, caring people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. To think that I play against someone that says they’ll go to hell for being gay disgusts me.’’

His Hurricanes counterpart Perenara joined in, tweeting: ‘‘As professional rugby players, whether we like it or not, we are role models for a lot of young people. Notably, young Maori and Pasifika people’’, and pointing out those people are over-represented in youth suicide statistics. ‘‘Comments that cause further harm cannot be tolerated.’’

The lingering question for Folau is not just whether his comments will be tolerated, but to what extent his presence on the field will be. His Super Rugby team, the Waratah come to New Zealand next month, to play the Crusaders, and might well find his reception is less than ecstatic.

That may serve to remind him that freedom of speech does not mean freedom from responsibility. His sporting success has given a public platform he would not otherwise have had, which includes more than 340,000 followers on Instagram. He would be well advised to use that platform more wisely – and Rugby Australia has now, far too belatedly, put out a memo to its Super Rugby players, warning them of their obligations to use social media in a respectful way.

Some might consider it ironic that it took the social media interventions of two fellow players to force Rugby Australia’s hand. But therein lies the true value of free speech. There is surely room for all shades of opinion to be heard, including Folau’s, and the more we hear, the more we can debate them.

When was the last time we heard All Blacks discussing homosexuality in mature and measured tones? In an unlikely – and surely unintended – way, Israel Folau might just have done public discourse a favour.