Thu 20 Feb 2014 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
As he threatens legal action against the Greens' Russel Norman for insinuating he’s homophobic, Colin Craig has happily repeated his view that gay people are not normal. “Normal is the main thing, the expected thing, that’s the definition of it,” he said on The Paul Henry Show last night. He then claimed that one per cent of New Zealanders identify as ‘homosexual’ and stated: “It is not the norm.” It is possible Craig plucked the unattributed figure that one per cent of New Zealanders are ‘homosexual’ from 2006 Census numbers which show one per cent of New Zealanders were then in a long-term same-sex relationship. This statistic did not include single gay people or those who chose not to reveal their relationship status. There are no statistics on how many Kiwis identify as gay, such numbers are something health and social policy advocates regularly cry out for. The best information available is the Youth 12 study which found four per cent of high school students were same-sex attracted, and another four per cent were not sure. In the same study one per cent identified as transgender, while another three per cent were not sure. Full data on same-sex couples from the 2012 Census is not due out till next month. There has never been a Census question on how people identify. See the video of Colin Craig on The Paul Henry Show here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 20th February 2014 - 3:06pm