Westpac Bank has apologised for any offence caused over remarks made by Westpac Stadium Trust chief executive David Gray about same-sex kissing. Gray's comments came after a pair of women were threatened by a security guard with eviction at a Napier cricket match after they kissed each other, and the kiss was projected on the big-screen monitors to a cheering crowd. Gray told the Dominion that if similar behaviour happened in Wellington security staff would be instructed to intervene as a matter of policy. "We would not accept that that's something that should be broadcast on the screen," he said. "At a family stadium it's not appropriate and we would instruct our operators accordingly." No-one from Westpac Stadium responded to GayNZ.com's enquiries about Gray's comments, but following complaints from the public about unfair treatment of same-sex couples, Westpac Bank – chief sponsor of the stadium – has issued an apology for offence caused by the comments. In a standard email being issued to complainants, Westpac says Gray's comments were made in the context of recent crowd disturbances at the stadium. "We have discussed the matter with Mr Gray, and he agrees that his comments were inappropriate, do not reflect Westpac 'policy' in sponsorship or any other area, and were likely to give rise to the concerns you and others have expressed." Meanwhile, New Zealand Cricket have denied that the original incident in Napier had anything to do with same-sex kissing. Marketing manager Peter Dwan said the kiss was part of "an on-going display" by the pair, and made them and other women in the crowd the targets of inappropriate male attention. "The judgment of the security guard had nothing to do with morality or sexuality but related to the safety of the crowd," he said.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 18th January 2006 - 12:00pm