Intimacy within heterosexual marriage is the only sexual activity sanctioned by God, says the MP putting forward a private members bill that will undermine the Human Rights Act and once again allow legal discrimination against same-sex couples. United Future MP Gordon Copeland is the sponsor of the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Bill, a measure which will enshrine this discrimination in law. As well as stating that marriage can only ever be between a man and a woman, it also includes a clause that will amend the Bill of Rights Act. This clause states that promoting marriage in “good faith” cannot be considered to be discriminatory. A report from the Attorney-General into the proposed bill says the clause is a violation of the Bill of Rights Act, because it unfairly discriminates against both same-sex and heterosexual defacto couples. Copeland told GayNZ.com last week his bill was necessary because the public were “unnerved” by same-sex couples being allowed to have civil unions. He said the status of marriage had been downgraded morally, legally and socially by the Civil Union Act. “Marriage is the only sexual activity which is sanctioned by God, which has God's seal of approval,” he says. “All other forms of sexual activity, therefore, fall short of that very very high standard, whether they be homosexual or heterosexual. They all fall short of that. So I have a moral distinction between the two, and for me of course, that simply reinforces the fact that all of humanity to a greater or lesser extent is sinful.” Copeland claims his religious beliefs have nothing to do with the motivations behind the bill, which is due to have its first reading in Parliament on 7 December.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Monday, 14th November 2005 - 12:00pm