Gays have been put in the same category as terrorists and petty criminals in the latest tirade from an afternoon talk-radio host. Radio Pacific host Mark Bennett falsely alleged last Tuesday that homosexuality had taken over Premier House for a taxpayer-funded cocktail evening with Sir Ian McKellen. Unmoved by statements from the Prime Minister's office and MP Tim Barnett that said the function was self-financing, Bennett continued on Friday to insist that taxpayers had subsidised it, after selectively quoting on-air from a GayNZ.com article on the affair. “If you don't happen to be Algerian, if you're not a terrorist, if you're not a petty criminal and if you're not a gay, it's hard to get an even break in this country,” said Bennett. Creating links between criminal or deviant elements in society and the gay community is not new for Bennett. In October he suggested an LGBT police liaison officer in the Waikato should be joined by one for paedophiles and necrophiles.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 10th December 2003 - 12:00pm