National MP Richard Worth's 'incest' amendment has been resoundly dumped by MPs, with 72 votes opposed and 47 in favour. Worth's amendment would have removed all ceremonial provisions from the Civil Union Bill, and opened it up to any relationship between two people, including siblings. Campaign for Civil Unions spokesman Cameron Law called it "simply an attempt to belittle the relationships of same-sex couples by suggesting they are no more significant than friendships". Meanwhile, siblings became part of the debate in Parliament yesterday as the fight for civil unions got even more personal. NZ First MP Brian Donnelly talked about his gay brother, saying family values meant acceptance of family members was "non-negotiable and unconditional". Parakura Horomia cited gay whanau as one of the reasons he supported the bill, putting him in sharp contrast to Maori Party leader Tariana Turia, who voted against it in spite of close gay associates. National MP Clem Simich's 32-year-old gay son has praised his father's support of the bill, and NZ First MP Ron Mark alluded to a gay family member in his speech yesterday as well. However National MP Brian Connell continued his antigay rants, despite having a lesbian sister-in-law. In last Thursday's debate he said the bill was “the hard sell of the homosexual lifestyle” from a community not seeking understanding but “recruits”.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 8th December 2004 - 12:00pm