Kevin Hague (left) is confident Jan Logie (right) will join him in Parliament after the election The Green Party is heading into the November election hoping to emerge with two openly-gay MPs, and as it releases its rainbow policy it’s also making it clear just how much it has already being doing on glbti issues. Out MP Kevin Hague, who is number 3 on the party list and sits only behind the party’s two co-leaders in the rankings, presented Green policy on rainbow issues at Rainbow Wellington’s election panel last night, and will present it again at the Gay Auckland Business Association’s panel tonight. Hague is confident that after the election he will be joined in Parliament by Kapiti lesbian Jan Logie, who is ranked 9th on the Green Party list. He says the Green Party is standing firm on a pro-equality platform in regards to same-sex adoption and gay marriage, adding explicit reference to gender identity to the list of grounds in the Human Rights Act on which discrimination is prohibited, while the party is firmly against the 90 day probation law. The issue of homophobic bullying is one which Hague feels particularly strongly about and he points out the party hired intern Murray Riches to create the report “How Do We Make It Better?” which develops a programme of measures to create a safer and more supportive environment for queer young people. Hague says the party will now be working to secure commitment from glbt communities to act together to campaign for its implementation. “The Green Party’s fundamental values lead us to promote an inclusive society in which each minority group feels at home, without having to compromise who we are,” Hague says. “As such the Green Party is the only political party in which every MP has always voted in favour of human rights for lgbti communities.” Hague points out every Green MP voted for the Human Rights Amendment Bill (2001), the Property (Relationships) Amendment Act (2001), the Civil Union Act (2004) the Relationships (Statutory References) Act (2004) and Care of Children Act (2004). The West Coast-based MP adds that in the current term of Parliament he has been an advocate against homophobic bullying, particularly in schools, an advocate for the repeal of the ‘gay panic’ provocation defence to murder and helped push for the withdrawal of Beenie Man’s invitation to the Big Day Out. Hague adds he was the only New Zealand politician to advocate on the It Gets Better project, has also been working on a project to identify and promote a programme of measures to promote welfare and safety for glbti young people. He says he has also advocated for law change to provide for same sex couples to be considered as adoptive parents, and also convened a cross-party group working on this issue in the wider context of comprehensive overhaul of adoption law.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 13th October 2011 - 4:20pm