Chester Borrows 10.58PM: Chester Borrows, the National MP who famously doesn't think glbti people are heroes and doesn't think we should define ourselves by our "sexual preferences," is returning to Parliament as the MP for Whangarei. With counting due to finish shortly Borrows has a commanding 4,700 majority. But on a brighter note some of the glbti community's staunchest and proven allies will be back in Parliament, either through winning their electorates or on their parties' lists. Labour heavyweight Lianne Dalziel has comfortably won Christchurch East and Trevor Mallard has finished over 4,000 ahead of his nearest rival. The glbti community has the best of both worlds with Labour's Annette King, a long-time supporter of equality for glbti people, winning the Rongotai seat and gay candidate Christopher Finlayson coming in second. Finlayson is 9th on the National list so is also assured of a seat in the house. Metiria Turei, co-leader of the Greens, will back with a strongly glbti-positive caucus around her, including one gay and one lesbian MP. Turei was the first MP to try to get changes to the descriminatory adoption laws into the house. Both the Greens and Labour have pledged their support for another attempt to allow same-sex couples to legally adopt children and are known to be supportive of clearing up the current iniquities of gender identification categories in official documentation such as passports which adversely affect transgender people.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 26th November 2011 - 10:41pm