Conservative Christian columnist Garth George, who rallied against gay rights throughout his career, has died. He died in Rotorua Hospital on Sunday from cancer, aged 75. George worked for a number of newspapers over his career, including the Auckland Star, New Zealand Herald, Dominion Post and most recently the Rotorua Daily Post. Throughout his career, he railed against gay rights and the gay community. In 2002, he said New Zealand was going to “hell in a handcart”, and suggested a link between homosexual law reform and an increase in the murder rate. During the civil union debate in 2004, George stated Christians didn't have the courage to face the "viciousness, bile and hatred spat at them" by the "heterophobic homosexual community". As gatekeeper for readers' letters at the Herald, George was also responsible for printing a letter from fundamentalist Stephen Taylor, who said gay MP Tim Barnett should be put down “like a rabid dog”. He wrote multiple columns attacking homosexuality that year. In 2010, in a piece for the Herald, he lumped male homosexuality together with child abuse, paedophilia and cruelty to animals. "I have never been able to get my head around... child abuse, paedophilia and cruelty to domestic animals... male homosexuality... and vegetarianism.” In 2012 he penned a piece for the Rotorua Daily Post about the marriage equality debate, saying it was “another step in a decades-long campaign to convince everyone that homosexuals and lesbians are no different from the rest of us and deserve all the rights and privileges known to mankind.” He said the “widespread and successful public relations campaign all began with the corruption of the word ‘gay’. The original meaning of gay was light-hearted and carefree, yet no homosexual I've ever met could be so described.” George also said gay people should not be able to adopt because “by their very nature, homosexuals and lesbians cannot reproduce, except through IVF treatments or by the use of surrogate fathers or mothers.” He maintained he was not homophobic, but added “the fact is that male homosexuality - while I concede that some men are made that way and it's their business - is one of the few things in life that I cannot for the life of me understand.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 28th July 2015 - 9:14am