A GLBT activist group says comparing people who stand up for equal rights and fair treatment to the Taliban is “ridiculous, to say the very least”. Responding to claims from a pair of homophobic Whangarei lodge owners that they are receiving death threats due to their anti-sodomy stance, Auckland counsellor Steve Taylor has accused activists in the gay community of being the “gay Taliban”. “It seems that this minority unelected ‘gay Taliban’ has determined that any alternative opinion, save ideological acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, is to be ridiculed, attacked, and silenced – which is hardly an example of the tolerance, inclusivity, and diversity that the same strident minority claim to desire,” he writes. The group Queer Avengers, which started in response to anti-GLBT violence on the streets of Wellington, has responded to Taylor’s ‘gay Taliban’ comparison, with member Sara Fraser stating: “To compare people who stand up for equal rights and fair treatment to the Taliban is quite ridiculous, to say the very least.” Fraser says the Whangarei accommodation providers need to acknowledge they are clearly breaking the law. “People have a legitimate reason to complain about such treatment, without being accused of overreacting. Having ‘an alternative opinion,’ is one thing, to break the law quite another.” Taylor also attacks protests outside McDonald’s because a worker was told to act less gay by a manager, claiming it was “an attempt to intimidate and silence dissenting opinion”. Queer Avenger Kassie Hartendorp says sadly, despite many gains, discrimination remains in many areas. “The treatment of Sean Bailey at McDonald’s in Auckland is unacceptable, as it is when any employee is treated unfairly in the work place.” Fraser is concerned Taylor is the director of a counselling service. “To express such homophobia for someone in a role of care is disturbing. Such bigotry has the potential to drive clients to a worse space with severe consequences. How does someone like this be able to have such a role?”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 21st May 2013 - 1:28pm