Arie Smith-Voorkamp An advocate for Asperger's sufferers is so disgusted at the case against gay Christchurch couple Cornelius Arie Smith-Voorkamp and Michael Davis he is calling not only for it to be quashed, but also for the Prime Minister to personally apologise to the couple. The men have been living apart since they were arrested for being in a quake-damaged building in February, which Smith-Voorkamp says he was drawn to by his obsession for electrical equipment. The couple faces burglary charges over two light bulbs and a light fitting which were taken. It has since emerged Smith-Voorkamp and Davis were originally slapped with a now defunct non-association order which has left them living apart. The men are due back in court on Monday and closely following their case is Wellingtonian John Greally, who has Asperger's and started the not-for-profit advocacy group Asperger's New Zealand. "When it first happened I thought an apology and quashing of the case would be sufficient," he says. "But not anymore. They've lost their house, their cats, their furniture, their everything. It's severely damaged their relationship, I'm not saying they won't be together, I'm just saying they haven't been together," he says. Greally describes as "medieval stuff" the mixture of the allegations Smith-Voorkamp was assaulted as he was arrested, which police strongly deny, and the allegations that the couple was taunted about their sexuality and Smith-Voorkamp's Asperger's by Army men, along with the angry and fierce reaction to the post-quake 'looters' from the public. "You can't let that medieval stuff just wander by," he says. "People have to learn for the next time there's an earthquake, or a tragedy, or an upset, to pause on clicking 'like', and maybe not become one of the 52,000 calling for a hanging. Hanging is never appropriate in a circumstance like that, even when you've taken three generators. It's just not," he says. "I think the apology needs to come from the top. Not just from [Police Minister] Judith Collins, not from the police, but from the Prime Minister. I think he needs to show some leadership before election time, that that's not the type of country he'd like to live in either." Greally says Smith-Voorkamp and Davis are not coping very well, particularly as they are now living separately. "Even though there is some additional support packed around [Arie] he is mostly apart from the most significant support in his life, which is Michael." He says the non-association order they were subject to is far more serious and significant when someone has Asperger's syndrome, which he explains as meaning: "There are some social and big picture things that we just can't do. It's a bit like a railway ticket that's been clipped. There are a couple of bits missing and we have a couple of extra bits regarding focus and memory to make up for that. But having somebody who's more socially able to help us with momentum and making decisions and processing the outrages that happen to us is a very, very important thing for people with Asperger's." Greally says he couldn't do without his main support person and can't imagine Smith-Voorkamp doing that well either. He questions why there has not been substantial national outrage over the case, and wonders whether there needs to be more exposure of the way the couple's partnership has been treated, which he says is atrocious. "But the way Arie has been treated as both a person who is gay and has Asperger's is atrocious as well. That should have been raised sooner. I know it was mentioned on the Sunday programme, but you wonder whether these things stick in people's minds at the time, or whether they just gloss over it and follow the story." Greally says Sunday was wonderful for delving into the situation, even in the face of police prosecution. "And I note that the threat of charges against them has been dropped. Like a lead balloon," he says. Davis is regularly reading a Facebook page which has been set up to show support for the couple and Greally believes he would appreciate any messages of support people wish to share. "It's delicate. He's very self effacing and Arie is his main concern. He's not terribly worried about what's happening to him ... he's just worried about Arie."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 20th August 2011 - 1:51pm