ACT justice spokesman Stephen Franks was on the attack again yesterday at the select committee hearing on the Civil Union Bill, berating a gay man for calling the right to have his relationship legally recognized "civil rights". Christopher Dempsey spoke of his own family circumstances, noting that he and his straight brothers are equal in every respect, including the fact that all have disabilities, yet they have civil rights with regard to their relationships that he, as a gay man with a hearing disability, does not. Franks barked that Dempsey was "hitch-hiking on some very powerful language" by using the phrase civil rights, saying that people had died for "centuries" to fight for them. Franks said civil rights would have to be completely redefined to use them in the context that Dempsey described. Dempsey told GayNZ.com he felt "physically ill" after making his submission. Also submitting at the Select Committee yesterday was the Maxim Institute, who asked why New Zealand was not opting for a George Bush-style amendment to the Marriage Act to bar same-sex couples from marrying, as our "closest neighbour" Australia had done. Nicki Taylor-Raffills, appearing as Maxim's legal expert with managing director Greg Fleming, argued that discrimination against gays and lesbians in the areas of hospital visitation and medical decisions doesn't actually exist, and even if it did, wouldn't warrant a law change on the magnitude of the Civil Union Bill. Taylor-Raffills is standing in the local body elections for Auckland City this year, on the Citizens
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 28th September 2004 - 12:00pm