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We are gathered here today to celebrate and to share our joy and our excitement and to show passionate support for the marriage of equality bill. Whatever brings you here today, whether you're here because you want to walk your daughter down the aisle because you want to support your gay brother, your transgender be grind your lesbian granddaughter, [00:00:30] your bisexual mum, because you like your son or your daughter to grow up, knowing that if they're gay, they will be treated equally and with respect and that their love will be seen as special as anybody else's. Whether you're here like me, because one day you'd really love to walk down the aisle and marry the love of your life. Or if you're just here because you genuinely believe in equality for all New Zealanders, Welcome before we get to Parliament today, [00:01:00] before we head to parliament today we have a few wonderful speakers to get us started, the first of which is the fabulous and beautiful Brooklyn Kennedy. Let's give her a round of applause. Can you hear me? I know you're expecting a speech about marriage equality, but honestly, that's [00:01:30] boring and expecting. Instead, I want to talk to you about strawberries. I hate them. They are disgusting and icky. They have no place in my kitchen or in the world. I want to campaign against strawberries. Let's rid the world of this scourge. This is how it works, right? If I don't like something, I can make sure no one gets to have it. No strawberries for you. No strawberries for you. No strawberry, [00:02:00] for all of you. We want Wait. That's not how the world works. I can just like something and it can exist. This means I think that I despise other people can participate in, like eating strawberries or being a national supporter, [00:02:30] huh? I guess I don't have to act like a petulant child. Why does it seem that a portion of our society hasn't seemed to grasp this concept yet? If you don't like something, don't partake in it. I don't like strawberries. I won't eat them. You can have my share. Don't like gay sex. Don't have it. I'll take your share. [00:03:00] Don't like a game. Don't want a gay marriage. Don't have one who I have yet to hear. A solid piece of evidence on why marriage equality shouldn't exist. And if I hear one more Leviticus quote, I am going to scream I as a Christian, I am very, very familiar with Leviticus. It's the boring chapter that tells you things that you can and cannot do, mostly those you can't. It's also the the Conservatives [00:03:30] Favour ammunition to fire at gay rights groups. The van is 18 22. States do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman. It is an abomination. Other things that Leviticus goes on to say. Our abominations are barred mixed fibre clothing, shellfish, bacon and all ham and burying a grudge. It further goes on to say, If your house gets mildew, you need to tear it down, wash [00:04:00] each stone and put it back together or else it is an abomination. Those who continue to live in it. Abomination. Kiss also says that you shall love your neighbour as you love yourself. Thus you shall not spread hate If you spread hate, you guessed it abomination. No one. No one abomination is greater than another abomination. All abominations are equal. So to those [00:04:30] Christians out there who are wearing their cotton poly bland suits eating their mint mint and cheese pies, spreading hate and buring a garage. I count five of our nations for you today, whereas I've only had gay sex. Perhaps you should worry about your own soul. Furthermore, the whole discussion about Leviticus would make more sense if we were a Christian nation, which we are not. Practise your beliefs and believe whatever you want. For all I care, you can worship your left [00:05:00] nipple as the great Holy nipple Lord. As long as you aren't hurting yourself or others, who cares? But here's the thing. I'll keep my beliefs to my life. You keep yours to yours. The other argument is it will damage the sanctity of marriage. Oh yes, two people who love each other vowing to love each other forever is so much more damaging to marriages sanctity than, say, divorce. Want to protect marriages, [00:05:30] sanctity and divorces. Oh, but also marriage is about procreation. Seriously, I mean, seriously. So when a man's going out to a bar, sees a girl he likes eventually gets engaged to her, his main thoughts are man. We will breed well together to have great Children. I don't think so. If marriage is just about procreation. Why do we let bearing women [00:06:00] and sterile men marry? Why do we let those past child bearing age marry? Why don't we annul all marriages that have gone 246 or 88 years without procreating? Because marriage isn't about procreation. Marriage is about love about commitment. Marriage is about sharing a bond and being with each other. Marriage Equality will not tear apart the morality of this nation or this [00:06:30] world. It will mean that more people who love each other will be able to marry. It will mean two people of any gender combination who love each other who can adopt a child and raise it in a happy home. It will simply mean more love. It will mean more happiness. It will mean more joy. If you disagree with more love, more happiness or more joy in this world, then you [00:07:00] are the sick ones. You are the abomination. Go! Go! Oh, are you speaking here? Here, bro? Thank you, Brooklyn. Our next speaker is the lovely Joseph. Yeah, well, everyone, Today is the day Today we [00:07:30] passed yet another milestone towards the New Zealand values of tolerance. A fair go for all and celebrating our distances being fully reflected in our laws. Among us today are people of different religions supporters of political parties across the spectrum, youth and adults LGBT, Q I and straight cisgender transgender and gender queer, all united by the common certainty that preventing people from getting married is just not safe. Today [00:08:00] we're marching for love and equality. We're marching to give all New Zealanders a fair go. We're marching so that we don't live in a society where the majority gets to decide how the minority has to live. But we're also marching so that our friends, our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, only just coming to terms with their own identity with their own sexual orientation and beset on all sides from religious bullying can look to the government of this country and hear them say with one resounding [00:08:30] voice. Who you are is OK. Oh yes, that is a message that needs to come across loud and clear, and that message is more important than any other that we hold against each other religious, political or otherwise. When a child realises that they may not be the gender that they were assigned at birth. That shouldn't mean that they know they get less rights as an adult. [00:09:00] When a young person realises they may be falling in love with someone and they're deciding whether they can fix that love or not. With all the heartache, headaches aren't cluttering. People are smart that that decision always goes with, even when you're not facing alienation from your friends and family. As a result, an obscure statute from the 19 fifties should be the last thing on their mind. We can all march today and the warm blow of knowledge that New Zealand is with us. The vast majority [00:09:30] of New Zealanders agree that love is love together. Let's all be empowered by their knowledge and thank the campaigners before us and their efforts in decriminalising homosexuality in 1980 1986 and making it a crime to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in 1993 and winning the debate to allow couples to enter civil unions in 2004. Let's march knowing that on our side as public opinion, the weight of history and love itself. Let's make this happen. [00:10:00] Who Who? Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Joseph. Our next speaker is James Lee told everybody. I just want to say like, what a glorious day to be here together, celebrating the advancement of human rights in this country. We're here today to celebrate equality, something as beautiful as [00:10:30] equality as equal rights. So every single New Zealander can marry the person they love. And so we need modern legislation to make that happen. And that's what we're going to see today and hopefully in the next few months. But I just want to say that this is deeper than in any institution. This is about eradicating Homo homophobia and stigma that continues to sit on the shoulders of LGBT people across this country. This is about law reform that has the potential to radically change attitudes in this country. And that's what this is about. That's what we're marching for. [00:11:00] It's equality, and I want to send a message to the MP S this afternoon who continue to sit on the other side of this debate, and I want to use, uh, I want to use a phrase from half milk, um, our inspiration from San Francisco and that is that it takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. And it takes no survey to remove repression. Kha, let's take this fight all the way to Parliament. [00:11:30] We were going to have an open mic section now and I'd like to sincerely apologise. We're running out of time to do that because we need to get to Parliament at one. So I'm sorry about that. Um, but we do have time for, um a quick message from our safety team. Officer Andrew, Open mic at the other end then, eh? Hello? Wellington [00:12:00] didn't know if that worked. That's kind of cool. Hi, guys. Uh, today I'm leading the safety team. If everyone looks around, we have safety officers at the back and these people in the front, they're all wearing orange, orange, high visor, and they're here to keep us safe. I don't think just a couple of notes of housekeeping. First [00:12:30] things first. We have been given the roads to be used by the New Zealand police, and they're here today to keep us safe. So let's give a big round of applause for them. We've had a series of really, really amazing speakers today, and I just want to say something about this rally. This is a celebration. We are here to celebrate [00:13:00] marriage, equality and the passing of today's bill. When we march down the street today, we will be smiling. Our safety team will be smiling because today we make history today, every single one of us, no matter who you love [00:13:30] or who you care about or what your gender or sexuality is Today we are all equal and we can show New Zealand that amazing. We have had a long, long battle for equality and today we can take a break from having to fight and we can finally sit back and celebrate as we move towards a brighter future. [00:14:00] Yeah, so on that note, let's show New Zealand that we deserve this, that we really do just on a final note. Just so you guys are aware we may be encountering some resistance that we've heard over the stuff website. I just want to say they have a right to talk to, but we are more [00:14:30] and we are more joyful and we are more happy and more celebrating than any other group. So when we see people who say that what we're doing is not right. All we do is smile straight at them because we know that we will win this. I don't do that. Let's make it happen that way.
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