CANBERRA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has launched a new fundraising campaign for rugby player Israel Folau to pursue legal action against the sport's governing body.
Martyn Iles, managing director of the ACL, told Fairfax Media on Tuesday that crowd-funding platform GoFundMe's decision to suspend Folau's campaign after it had raised more than 750,000 Australian dollars (522,412 U.S. dollars) was "disappointing".
Folau's four million Australian dollar (2.7 million U.S. dollar) contract with Rugby Australia was terminated in May after the body found he had breached its "inclusiveness" commitment by sharing a homophobic biblical passage on his personal social media.
After Folau hit out at GoFundMe for "buckling" under pressure, Iles said the ACL decided to launch a renewed campaign.
"There is an outpouring of support for Israel Folau from the Australian community, who see Israel's case as their case," he told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
"They feel the pinch of political correctness, and the erosion of their basic freedoms.
"The success of the Folau fundraiser was giving 'quiet Australians' a voice."
The renewed campaign had received 529,557 Australian dollars (368,938 USD) of its three million Australian dollar goal by Tuesday morning including 100,000 Australian dollars donated by the ACL.
Folau, considered one of the best rugby union players in Australia, launched his GoFundMe campaign on Friday and received more than 750,000 Australian dollars in four days.
The platform announced on Monday that it was shutting down the campaign and issuing full refunds to more than 7,000 donors because it violate its terms of service.
"As a company, we are absolutely committed to the fight for equality and fostering an environment of inclusivity," Nicola Britton, GoFundMe Australia's regional manager, said in a statement.
"While we welcome GoFundMe's engaging in diverse civil debate, we do not tolerate the promotion of discrimination or exclusion."
