Wellington gay business group GAP has referred to the Broadcasting Standards Authority a complaint about Radio Pacific allegations that a cocktail function organised for Sir Ian McKellen at Premier House was taxpayer funded. Pacific host Mark Bennett made the allegations late last year during his programme, during which he sneered at the function, describing it as “obviously just a little bit of gay bonding paid for by the New Zealand taxpayer”. Following statements from the Prime Minister's office and MP Tim Barnett stating that the function was self-financing, Bennett continued to repeat his allegations and compared gays and lesbians to terrorists and petty criminals. GAP says it has waited long enough for a response from Radio Pacific programme director Chris Gregory and has sent a copy of the homophobia complaint directly to the BSA.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 18th March 2004 - 12:00pm