The country's first openly gay High Court Judge, Justice Matthew Muir, has warned lawyers and law students against complacency in the face of religious fundamentalism. Justice Matthew Muir with event organisers Matthew Denton, Rekha Patel and Nick Wells. Photo: Chapman Tripp. Muir, who himself experienced what he called a "rather extreme evangelical Christian upbringing" where homosexuals were considered "devil-possessed and needed to undergo exorcism, was speaking at a Rainbow Law gathering last night to mark the 30th anniversary of Homosexual Law Reform. Harking back to some of the more odious religion-inspired invective directed against gay and bi men during the 1985/86 law reform campaign, Muir said glbti people "should be careful of complacency because I doubt whether the forces of religious fundamentalism - whether Christian, Muslim or otherwise - will ever be silenced on these issues and they will continue to recruit among the uneducated and underprivileged." He suggested those present, predominantly young glbti lawyers and law students, and glbti people in general, could lead by example. "As middle class professionals we are largely insulated from such influences," he told the gathering of over a hundred people, but spare a thought for the young gay man or woman growing up in communities where religious intolerance still precludes them openly embracing their own sexuality." "Can we as a community and by an example which is perhaps not as self-indulgent as the popular press typically portrays our lifestyles, reassure families fearful of what the future may hold for their gay children, that our lives are as full, rich, complete, productive and valuable as any heterosexual?" "it is time," he said, "to take our place openly and visibly at the table – leading the professions, business, politics, arts, the school boards, the community and charitable organisations and our families in a way which honours the stand made 30 years ago and the fact that it always was about a great deal more than who you could lawfully have sex with."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 9th August 2016 - 9:17pm