The blogger who anti-pornography campaigner Melinda Tankard-Reist has threatened with a defamation lawsuit has vowed not to apologise.
In a case that has set Twitter ablaze with outrage for days, Ms Tankard-Reist's lawyers served Jennifer Wilson, who lives on the NSW North Coast and blogs at the website No Place for Sheep, with a ''letter of demand'' on the weekend.
The letter demanded Dr Wilson retract a post that characterised Ms Tankard-Reist as being hypocritical for not disclosing her religious beliefs.
It also demanded she sign a letter of apology drafted by Ms Tankard-Reist's lawyers, pay Ms Tankard-Reist's legal costs, and observed that Ms Tankard-Reist reserved the right to sue for defamation.
Dr Wilson posted her original blog entry last Tuesday after Fairfax weekend papers ran a profile of Ms Tankard-Reist, which did not canvass the campaigner's religious beliefs.
Dr Wilson claimed Ms Tankard-Reist was a member of the Belconnen Baptist Church which, Dr Wilson claimed, shaped her anti-pornography and anti-abortion views.
But Belconnen Baptist Church executive officer Phil Priest said, after looking at the church's files, Ms Tankard-Reist was ''definitely not on our books''.
''She's definitely not a member of the Belconnen Baptist Church.''
Ms Tankard-Reist said her objection to the blog post centred on the claim she had been ''deceptive and duplicitous'' about her beliefs.
''I had really only wanted an apology and retraction but am now discussing next steps with my lawyers.''
Dr Wilson admitted yesterday she had based her claims about Ms Tankard-Reist's religious beliefs on a Facebook page and a Wikipedia page - both of which have since been amended - as well as other blogs.
''I do really want to make it clear that I have been criticising Melinda Tankard-Reist for about two years and she has not once, never once, taken me to task for anything I've said,'' Dr Wilson told The Canberra Times.
''And suddenly, out of nowhere I'm slapped with a threat of defamation. It's nothing other people haven't said.
''I think it's a very heavy-handed approach and very bullying, and it's opened up a whole, huge can of worms on defamation, free speech and religion.''
High-profile supporters, including Leslie Cannold, Wil Anderson and Catherine Deveney, have taken to Twitter to lend their support to Dr Wilson, posting thousands of comments under the hashtag #MTRsues.
The Australian Sex Party, a long-term opponent of Ms Tankard-Reist, made its own defamation threats.
Party leader Fiona Patten said Ms Tankard-Reist had made ''some very horrible untruths'' about the party, and she had been ''inspired'' by the controversy to revisit the issue of legal action.
In 2009, Ms Tankard-Reist posted an article on her own website accusing the Sex Party of being linked to ''pseudo child pornography'' and one of its founding supporters of ''importing adult sex magazines that glorify sex with young girls, rape and incest''.
Ms Patten said, ''I think it's really disappointing that in this vibrant online debate that someone would resort to a lawsuit, but she's really operating in a glasshouse when you consider some of the outrageous things she's said.''
This reporter is on Twitter: @_biancah
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