Thu 20 Oct 2011 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Picture: OhSarahRose (Instagram) A vocal group of around 200 gay marriage and adoption campaigners has descended on Parliament this afternoon, with signs reading everything from "Christians for Equality" to the Bible quote "God hates shrimp". Organiser Joseph Habgood told the crowd this country has made homosexuality legal, made discrimination against that illegal and introduced Civil Unions and now it's time to take the next step. "The fact that so many of us are here today from such diverse backgrounds speaks to a very beautiful truth: the world is changing and the weight of history is on our side," he said. In response, Prime Minister John Key has told media National is sticking to its guns, despite his personal belief that adoption should be about "whether the parents love the child and whether they can provide the right home life and environment for them, as opposed to necessarily whether they're gay or heterosexual," he told Newstalk ZB. However he reiterated changing adoption laws is not a priority for National. Out Labour MP Maryan Street welcomed the protestors at Parliament and said the issue is the law isn't equal. "Individual lesbians and gays may adopt, those who are couples and in a stable relationship are not," she told Newstalk ZB. "There's nothing equal about that, similarly civil union partners cannot adopt." Street says adoption and marriage are the two outstanding issues. Gay Green MP Kevin Hague earlier tweeted the LegaliseLove team the message "Have a great march today! I'm not in Wellington but would have loved to be there!" Picture: Evinshir (Twitter)
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 20th October 2011 - 2:45pm