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Protest march will confront Destiny

Sat 5 Mar 2005 In: New Zealand Daily News

A new protest group has sprung up in defiance of the Destiny Church anti-civil union march up Queen Street today, saying it will do everything it can to expose messages of intolerance. Simon Oosterman, from Defend Diversity, says it will be counter-marching to reveal Destiny's anti-gay, anti-abortion and anti-solo parent messages. “What stops free speech is making people feel intimidated, and that's exactly what they're doing,” he says. “We're having to put aside our fear of violence or possible confrontation to go down and present out message. We don't seek confrontation but unfortunately that might happen so we have to be prepared for that.” Gay club Flesh is also organising a peaceful protest to be held on the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets. Meanwhile, another anti-Destiny rally – “Don't Hate, Celebrate!” – is to be held away from Queen Street, due to safety concerns from organisers following the conduct of Destiny followers at a hate rally in Wellington last year. “Don't Hate, Celebrate!” has been organised by a group of individuals with the support of local church leaders, and also the Green Party. "Like many New Zealanders, I'm deeply concerned by some aspects of the message being spread by the Destiny Church and its political offshoots,” says the party's social services spokesperson, Sue Bradford. "Destiny's rhetoric, and the behaviour at its demonstrations, suggest that it wishes to denigrate any families that don't meet an outdated Old Testament ideal that is irrelevant to a modern, 21st Century Aotearoa."    

Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff

First published: Saturday, 5th March 2005 - 12:00pm

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