There's little surprise from some quarters at the "gaggle of gays" outburst from one of Labour's more conservative MPs Damien O'Connor, who is described as someone who sometimes speaks before he thinks. O'Connor has decided to run in an all or nothing manner in the West Coast-Tasman electorate, a seat he used to hold but lost to National's Chris Auchinvole in 2008. He doesn't want to stand on the Labour list, stating it was drawn up by a "gaggle of gays and self-serving unionists". Kevin Hague Gay Green MP and West Coast stalwart Kevin Hague points out O'Connor was one of three sitting Labour MPs who voted against Civil Unions."He's from a socially conservative Catholic background and that's a good predictor of his position on most issues," Hague says. "[I'm] also not surprised because he does have a short fuse and sometimes engages his mouth before his brain is ready." Hague says he actually gets on with O'Connor ok and wasn't personally offended by his remark. He says he can understand others being offended, especially if they're Labour supporters. "What bothers me more is the response from Phil Goff that laughs off the remark as Damien just appealing to West Coast voters," Hague says. Rainbow Wellington Chair Tony Simpson says while the outburst is "seemingly rather alarming", in context the Labour Party has always been a "broad church" in which a wide range of views has found a home. "Until the eighties the social attitudes of the Labour leadership were often quite conservative on some policy matters," Simpson points out. "Norman Kirk, for example, was highly authoritarian in his response to crime, and certainly wanted no truck with homosexual law reform. Since that time that influence has declined and the Labour policy mainstream has become much more socially liberal in its approach." Tony Simpson Simpson says O'Connor belongs to the dwindling group of Labour politicians who reflect the perspectives of the Kirk era, also pointing out his position on Civil Unions. "Add to that the fact that he's contesting the West Coast-Tasman seat at the next election. To describe that area as the least tolerant in the country is an understatement. My family hails from that part of the country and I spent time there as a child so I have no illusions about that. "This was confirmed to me recently by a gay friend from outside New Zealand who visited with his partner whose family also lives there, but who has wisely chosen not to do so. He has remarked to me that it was the only time in New Zealand that he has felt physically unsafe because he is gay. "Damien will lose no votes in that electorate by espousing what are frankly homophobic attitudes, and by claiming that gay and lesbian MPs unduly influenced the ordering of Labour's list ... but he also represents a strand of thinking in the Labour Party which has long been left high and dry by history, and so should not be taken seriously as reflecting general Labour opinion. He may win West Coast-Tasman but he will continue to carry little weight in the Labour caucus. " However Hague, who polled third in the West-Coast Tasman electorate in 2008, objects to the inherent assumption from O'Connor that West Coasters are rednecks and homophobia is a good way to appeal to them. "My experience is entirely different," he says. "My partner and I have encountered not a single incident of homophobia in the nearly 10 years we have been here. On the contrary it's a community very accepting of difference, treating people on their merits." Hague also takes issue with underlying willingness of Labour to play both sides of the fence. "To appeal to our community we get Maryan and Charles and Grant, but then there's also the Labour that thinks homophobia is ok if it gets votes and that allows Mallard and Cosgrove to make homophobic taunts against Chris Finlayson. That's why their actions are so often compromised. That's why their policy isn't for full legal equality." On the other hand Hague can honestly say the Green Party does feel homophobia-free. "I keep saying we have the best voting track record and best policy, [that] we do support full equality, for example, and it's true. The political challenge for me is to get people in our LGBTI communities to vote based on these criteria, rather than just tribal loyalty," he says.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 11th April 2011 - 3:28pm