Tony and his civil union partner Nic A marriage equality advocate is disgusted at the “dishonest and misleading” way in which his quote is being used to imply gay opposition to marriage equality on the Protect Marriage website. Under its “quotes” section, the site lists a snippet of a GayNZ.com article by Tony Milne, who helped co-ordinate the campaign for civil unions when working for Tim Barnett: “I’m one of those who prefers Civil Unions over marriage. It is modern and inclusive from its very beginning. Compared to most countries, where Civil Unions have been designed as a separate institution for same-sex couples, New Zealand chartered a different course. We created a relationship recognition that was open to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples, changed the prescribed ‘I take you’ language to be more flexible and less possessive – and removed virtually all discrimination in New Zealand law between de facto and married/civil unionised couples!… To describe Civil Unions as a second-class institution is hurtful for some of us who are in a Civil Union. It’s just not necessary either.” Milne says a small part of the article has been taken out of context to imply opposition to marriage equality "This couldn't be further from the truth," he says. "Frankly it makes me sick to my stomach to think these people are using my own words out of context to try to attack marriage equality.” While Milne's personal preference is for civil unions, the rest of the article talked about his unequivocal support for marriage equality and he states: “I will be doing everything in my power to ensure that gay and lesbian New Zealanders have the fundamental human right and choice to marry." Milne went on to say in his article that "there is no rational argument or logical reason to deny same-sex couples the choice. If two people love each other and want to make a commitment to each other then they should be able to do so." Milne has organised a lobby training session on Sunday 12 August 1PM at the Christchurch New Zealand AIDS Foundation office called "Help make marriage equality happen" to help teach people how to lobby MPs and other things they can do to support marriage equality.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 31st July 2012 - 3:56pm