NZ First deputy leader Peter Brown has attempted to soften the impact of comments he made last week that suggested Chief Censor Bill Hastings and his deputy should be fired because their homosexuality was a factor in "letting smut" through the system. In an interview with Radio Pacific's Paul Henry last Thursday, Brown said he didn't know that Hastings was gay until relatively recently. "Well I wouldn't have said this, only a few weeks ago, maybe a month or so ago I read an article in which Bill Hastings, the principal censor, actually, you have to say, was bragging about his sexuality, about how it was to be chief executive of a department and then be openly, openly homosexual and, and I would be, I would define what he said in that article as what I would call in you face sexuality." Henry rubbished Brown's interpretation of the Hastings article, suggesting that Hastings was merely commenting that in New Zealand society gays and lesbians can achieve a high office, and spent the rest of the interview unsuccessfully trying to make Brown repeat his assertions that Hastings should be fired because of his sexuality. "I believe Bill Hastings should step down, not particularly because of his sexuality but because this job isn't being done as stipulated in the law," said Brown. NZ First has yet to distance themselves from Brown's comments, and questions from GayNZ.com about the party's position on Human Rights Act provisions that protect gays from employment discrimination have so far been unanswered.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 21st October 2003 - 12:00pm