The right-wing Christian think tank Maxim Institute is rallying the troops to defeat the forthcoming Civil Union bill, labelling it the “latest attack in a campaign to destroy the foundational place of marriage which provides a socially approved context for sexual relations and raising children”. “Passing the Civil Union Bills would be a move to provide rights on the basis of sexual preference,” says the Institute in its latest Real Issues newsletter. “The state however, has given married couples privileges (not rights) in recognition of the special-ness of marriage. Because of the benefit of marriage to society it is the only sexual relationship that the state properly has an interest in.” The Institute has also taken to monitoring the gay media, reprinting an Express newspaper interview with PM Helen Clark on its website. In response to the Prime Minister's comment in the interview regarding her hope that eventually no-one in the future would hold homophobic views, the Institute comments that “the logical implication of her answer is that legislation should be used to determine acceptable thought” and that “freedom of religion, expression and thought, are foundational to a liberal democracy".
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 28th February 2004 - 12:00pm