Wellington last night marked the 30th anniversary of Homosexual Law reform with a glittering and colourful gathering at Parliament, outside which the rainbow flag had flown throughout the day. Grant Roberston presents Fran Wilde with her copy of the HLR bill. (Photo: Alex Effimov) Around 180 people attended the event, a mixture of glbti people and friends and family as well as politicians and others who had supported the bill's progress from 1984 until its passing on 9 July 1986. Some of those MPs who put their parliamentary careers on the line to help get the private member's bill passed included its sponsor Fran Wilde, Phil Goff, Trevor Mallard and Annette King were also present last night, as were several gay and glbti-supportive MPs. Ruth Dyson, who more recently chaired the Marriage Equality select committee, was acknowledged for her support for the bill before she was elected to Parliament. Current gay MP Grant Robertson presented an original signed copy of the HLR bill to Wilde and numbered copies to the other supportive MPs. Wilde paid tribute to the many hundreds of gay activists who worked tirelessly up and down the country, coordinating within the community and reaching out to community leaders and the community at large. A video recorded by ex Prime Minister Helen Clark who, as a new MP was a strong supporter of the HLR bill, was played. Representatives of glbti community organisations were also present including a group of young people who had come all the way from Gisborne to attend. Gay choir the Glamaphones performed a work, During These Days, written especially for the 30th anniversary by gay composer Gareth Farr. A major gala event will be held at Auckland's Skycity Convention Centre this Saturday night and another event is planned for Christchurch a few weeks later although final details have yet to be released.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 7th July 2016 - 10:28am