Labor senator Sam Dastyari and traditional marriage advocate Katy Faust have clashed on Q&A, with the senator accusing Faust of peddling "American evangelical claptrap".

Verbal sparring over the issue of same-sex marriage dominated Monday night's episode on the day Coalition MP Warren Entsch introduced a bill to legalise same-sex marriage into Federal Parliament.

Faust, who runs the Ask The Bigot blog, said there had not been sufficient debate about the effects on children of being raised by same-sex couples.

She said children often did not have the chance to "express the misgivings about their upbringing".

Senator Sam Dastyari responded by saying he believed Faust's comments came from "a place of hate".

"I worry that so much of your views stem not really with an issue with just marriage, I think some of it stems with an issue with homosexuality.

"You have described homosexuality as a lifestyle. You have said homosexuality drives us further away from God.

"There are people in this country who have different views on same-sex marriage. They are entitled to have the different views ... the American evangelical claptrap is the last thing we need in the debate."

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Libertarian and editor of Spiked Brendan O'Neill took issue with Senator Dastyari's comments and said the gay marriage debate had "an ugly, intolerant streak to it".

"Anyone who opposes it is demonised, harassed. We have seen people thrown out of jobs because they criticise gay marriage," he said.

"People are going to traditional cake shops and saying, 'Hey you stupid Christians, make this cake for me'. If they don't, they call the police [and bring] equality cases.

"It is a 21st century form of religious persecution. It is horrendous."

Liberal MP Kelly O'Dwyer, a supporter of marriage equality, said people needed to be tolerant of other views.

"The idea that people are demonised for their very heartfelt, very sincere views is quite wrong," she said.

"I do also think ... we need to have protections for those institutions that do, according to their own doctrinal belief, have a sincere view they don't wish to marry certain people, just as there are people who won't for instance marry somebody is not a confirmed Anglican or a Catholic."

Clash of views on same-sex couples and parenting

Faust and Greens leader Richard Di Natale also clashed over the effects on children of parenting by same-sex and heterosexual couples.

It came following a question from Craig Mack, who said he would be dead or in jail if he had not been taken in by his gay uncle and partner at age 15.

Mr Mack said up till then, he had been raised by his "single, drug-dealing, junkie, sometimes-hooker mother in an environment surrounded by drugs, bikies, domestic violence, child abuse, drug overdoses, death and police raids".

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Senator Di Natale said it was not biology that influenced whether someone had a happy, healthy, well-balanced child, "it's whether they grow up in a loving household".

"If there is any issue that kids growing up in an environment with same-sex parents have to face, it's the discrimination towards their parents.

"It is that issue we should be tackling, not this nonsense argument about whether people of the same sex should be able to raise a child. We have had that debate."

Faust said every child had a mother and father and "every child has a right to that mother and father, a natural right".

"Despite what you may say, social science doesn't say nice people determines the best outcome.

"The real reality is the married mother/father household determines the best outcome."

She added: "We know because when kids lose a relationship with a parent, they tend to suffer ... so we don't want to inflict intentional motherless and fatherlessness on kids in the name of progress."