Louisa Wall Louisa Wall has cleared up the latest round of truth-stretching that has been enacted in the wake of the successful second reading of her bill to give gay and trans New Zealanders full marriage rights. “Following the second reading of my Bill last Wednesday night, there has been a concentration from those opposed to my Bill to argue that it will ‘enable’ gay adoption,” the Labour MP says. “Such assertions expose a complete, and perhaps deliberate, lack of understanding of the adoption system we have in New Zealand.” She has listed the facts, which you can read here. “What my Bill will do is allow a couple who marry and have been assessed and approved as adoptive parents to make a joint application that properly recognises the reality of their relationship with the child they jointly parent,” Wall says. “It will also mean that non-birth parents who have raised children jointly with the birth parent can be recognised legally for that role on the child’s birth certificate. “The ability to marry and be a ‘spouse’ will mean a long standing anomaly in the wording of the antiquated Adoption Act will be overcome. The result will be stronger and more stable families.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 23rd March 2013 - 10:46am