Recent changes to censorship laws in New Zealand do not put any restrictions on a church's ability to release material claiming homosexuality is abnormal, says Justice Minister Phil Goff. An amendment to the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act passed last month was instigated to toughen up a loophole created by a Court of Appeal decision which overturned an R18 rating placed on two anti-gay Christian propaganda videos. In 2001, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Chief Censor's office had no authority to rate the videos in question, because they only talked about “matters of sex” and didn't deal with explicit depictions. By setting this precedent, a dangerous loophole was opened for certain forms of child pornography, a loophole which has been closed by the new amendment. ACT justice spokesman Stephen Franks claimed last week that the amendment threatened the freedom of speech of all New Zealanders, discussing the Christian videos in the same breath as great works of literature. "Uncle Tom's Cabin was supposed to make slave owners ashamed of themselves. Black Beauty was meant to incite hatred of cruel horse cab drivers... This isn't just another disappointment for Christians. It is dangerous for all who believe that even those whose ideas we detest must be free to express them." Goff has rubbished the claims, saying that hate speech is not within the remit of the amendment, which only applies to images. "The provision is concerned solely with protecting children, and does not authorise restriction simply because adults find an expression or language offensive or insulting to a particular group in society," he says. Goff says he personally deplores hate speech, but denies the government is planning hate speech legislation, and says the current select committee enquiry into it is just that – an enquiry. "I believe that a free society should not censor people from expressing opinions, no matter how much we might reject those views."