Television evangelist Brian Tamaki has used his slot on TV2 to launch an anti-gay tirade, attacking MPs Georgina Beyer and Tim Barnett, saying that the Human Rights Act had opened the door for sexual perversions and made New Zealand into a "gullible" experimental laboratory for them. Tamaki waved a photo of Beyer and Barnett embracing from the front page of the Herald after the passing of the Prostitution Reform Bill, saying, "A homosexual and a transsexual, and then the swing vote was decided by a Muslim. It shows you on the front page of our national newspaper, a huge cover picture of a man and what used to be another man, but now has had a sex change and calls himself a woman, kissing. That man kissing the trans-sexual is a self-confessed homosexual." Destiny New Zealand, the Christian political party affiliated with the church, did not think Tamaki's views were extreme. “I think homosexuality is extreme. Destiny New Zealand's position on homosexuality is the same as that of the biblical foundation in that it's amoral and unnatural behaviour,” said leader Richard Lewis. TVNZ had received no complaints about the Wednesday morning programme, but the Broadcasting Standards Authority has said that it may breach rules, as programmes cannot attack people on the basis of sexual orientation. Tim Barnett's office has received a number of complaints from constituents upset at the remarks, but he has said he will not lay a complaint. Neither will Georgina Beyer, despite being linked with murderers at another point in Tamaki's rant. "It's concerning to see this kind of talk emerging, and then taking it beyond just me and Tim. We're obvious targets - who's next?" she said.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 9th August 2003 - 12:00pm