A gay activist and former editor of Express says Statistics New Zealand are breaking the law by denying people a sexual orientation question on this year's census. Victor van Wetering first complained to the Human Rights Commission about the matter in 2001, and is angry that Statistics New Zealand has chosen to wait until the 2011 Census to consider adding a question where people can indicate their sexual orientation. 2003 research indicated that most New Zealanders would accept such an optional question on the Census, and van Wetering says a question on sexual orientation would provide policy makers and planners with useful information to better serve the gay community. Van Wetering's legal complaint against Statistics New Zealand refers to the Human Rights Act, which notes that it is illegal for a government policy to treat any section of the community unfavourably due to their sexual orientation. The gay equality activist believes that the lack of statistical information on the queer community puts LGBT New Zealanders at a disadvantage. "For example, some public campaigns might become more targeted at queer New Zealanders if this group was found to be more likely to smoke, or less aware of benefit entitlements, than other New Zealanders," he said.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 26th February 2006 - 12:00pm