John Tamihere (Pic: TVNZ) Homophobic ex-MP John Tamihere is promising to speak his mind regardless of offending people after being re-admitted to the Labour party at the weekend. In early October Tamihere, who was censured by Labour in 2005 because of his offensive attitude to homosexuals and women and who went on to persistently berate and denigrate gays and lesbians on his Radio Live talkback show, indicated he was considering standing for Parliament again which is usually a sign that a prospective candidate is testing the waters before announcing his intent. However, today he told Radio New Zealand that he does not intend to stand at the next election. But he will speak his mind regardless of upsetting any "voter demographic... I just come from a community and a region where we like to spell it out in black and white and some people don't like that." After being kept out of Labour's Mid-November National Conference Tamihere attacked the party as being "too focused on issues like gay marriage." He also has a history of denigrating fellow Labour MPs who are gay or lesbian.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 3rd December 2012 - 3:12pm