Stephen Rainbow The Chair of OUTLine believes urgent dialogue is needed between GLBT people and “new New Zealanders” with "illiberal views", which were unleashed at the marriage equality select committee hearings. Oral submissions on the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill wrap up today and the Government Administration Committee has just under a month to prepare a report on the issue. Steven Rainbow, who is the Chair of the OUTLine Board and also a New Zealand AIDS Foundation Board member, says he felt many of the arguments that were raised by opponents during the submission process were arguments that had been resolved more than 25 years ago with the passing of Homosexual Law Reform. “While the concern of many people about what is perceived as the breakdown of widely supported social values is understandable I find it incredible that the aspirations of some gay people to marry have become the focus of so much vitriol about the direction of society and the perceived demise of families, most of which is the direct result of heterosexual people,” he tells GayNZ.com Daily News. “Of particular disappointment to me was the willingness of ‘new New Zealanders’ who have been in New Zealand for far less time than me, to use their voice at the select committee to attempt to undermine my rights to love as a gay man. “Given that the future of New Zealand -and Auckland in particular- is going to be Asian, Pasifika and to a lesser extent Maori, the willingness of Pacific and Asian church leaders to promote their illiberal views makes me wonder if we haven't lived through a golden age of tolerance over the last few decades, and that this may not continue,” he says. “We need to urgently begin dialogue with ‘new New Zealanders’ so that they get to know us as real people, but I don't underestimate the challenge of this task given the fact that their views are imbedded in the cultures they have come from. “In the meantime the opponents' views seemed to me to lack sufficient logic to change the minds of select committee members, but it was certainly a sobering experience to witness the expression of so many opinions antagonistic to the remarkable progress that gay people have made in the last 25 years.” You can discuss this gay New Zealand community news story in the GayNZ.com Forum here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 30th January 2013 - 11:42am