Thu 13 Mar 2014 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Uncharacteristically silent: Colin Craig Colin Craig is silent on where his claim that one per cent of New Zealanders identify as gay came from, or who his ‘gay supporters’ are. In a recent appearance on The Paul Henry Show the Conservative Party leader used the mysterious claim that one per cent of New Zealanders are gay to dismiss glbti people as not being normal. Figures on how many New Zealanders identify as gay have never been collected. A request for Craig to clarify where the statistic came from has been ignored. GayNZ.com Daily News sent the Conservative Party questions more than a week ago, and has had no response. Our newsroom also asked to speak to some of the party’s ‘gay supporters’, following Craig’s assertion to Radio Live host Duncan Garner that the Conservatives have “gay supporters” and “they know where I stand” on marriage equality. No ‘gay supporters’ of Craig or the Conservatives have come forward, following requests for them to do so across GayNZ.com and its social media pages. GayNZ.com Daily News also asked Craig to answer “Why should gay New Zealanders vote for the Conservative Party?” and “Does he realise how incredibly offensive, hurtful and demeaning it is to keep saying he believes gay people are abnormal? Is he at all concerned about the impact this kind of rhetoric could have on the mental health of young gay people, or anyone struggling through the process of coming out?”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 13th March 2014 - 10:21am