One of the billboards on Beach Rd in Auckland The Catholic Church wants Powershop to take down satirical billboards showing the Pope marrying a gay couple, which it says are highly offensive. Four billboards have gone up in central Auckland and Wellington, and are the latest in the power supplier’s “same power, different attitude” ad campaign. Catholic Church spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer has told Radio New Zealand it wants the billboards to be removed. She says the marriage of two men by the Pope is “totally against our Catholic faith and principles, and would never happen.” Groups such as Family First and Right to Life have also weighed in, saying Powershop should not be political, as it’s owned by SOE Meridian. “It illustrates that the homosexual lobby is prepared to exploit and manipulate even State-Owned Enterprises in order to fulfil their agenda of inflicting same sex marriage on our community,” Right to Life, an anti-abortion group which has branched out against gay marriage, claims. Public reaction on the streets was positive when Radio New Zealand spoke to people passing the billboard, with people finding it “pretty funny” and “ballsy”. Powershop chief executive Ari Sargent says the Pope has been chosen because the marriage equality debate “aligns well with values Powershop stands for - freedom of choice and equality”. The company has no plans to remove the billboards early.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 12th December 2012 - 11:00am