United Future leader Peter Dunne has attempted to distance his party from the "black-shirted heavies" of Destiny Church, but has stopped short of acknowledging that gays and lesbians would be offended by the TV church's hate march. In a typically fence-sitting column in the NZ Herald, Dunne uses his description in a paragraph advocating for Destiny's right to freedom of expression. "Do we genuinely believe that the sight of black-shirted heavies in dark glasses on big bikes is going to inspire our families, friends and neighbours to surrender themselves to the Destiny cause?" he asks. "Let me put my cards on the table...I think the Destiny Church takes a fundamentalist view on many things, which frightens many mainstream people." Dunne also labelled the views of Holocaust denier David Irving extreme, but chose to add that the views were "undoubtedly offensive to those who were affected by it, and not supported by reputable historians." It is too late for Dunne to regain the middle ground now. His party ran a taxpayer-funded ad campaign in April slamming the "pink-think" government and labelling recognition of gay and lesbian relationships as politically correct "silliness". Dunne believes that just because certain things are tolerated in society (ie. gays and lesbians), it doesn't mean they have to be accepted, a view shared by the Maxim Institute.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 28th August 2004 - 12:00pm