Three particular comments by incumbent Auckland mayor John Banks during and after the GABA Mayoral Candidate Debate last week caught our attention and seemed to need following up. Clearly in campaigning mode, Banks advised GayNZ.com that he was gratified by the large number of gays who have supported and assisted with his current campaign for re-election. A week ago, last Friday, we asked his Communications Advisor by email whether we could be put in contact with those gay folk as we felt that that their views might provide a journalistic counterpoint to an anti-Banks attitude which permeates the gay community. Comments such as that barbed wire up the rectum of sodomites would be a waste of perfectly good barbed wire have not endeared him to most glbt folk. We have yet to hear back from either Banks or that adviser. Asked after the debate whether he had seen many policemen in tutus on Auckland streets during his mayoralty, a reference to his public claims during the campaign for Human Rights legislation that allowing gays into the police force would open New Zealand to "transexual, bisexual, transvestites in the police," people he termed "misfits." Mayor Banks disarmingly said to GayNZ.com that there should be more gay police officers in Auckland City. This despite his Ministerial declaration that "The very last thing we need in this country is policemen walking the beat wearing lipstick and pantyhose." So we also asked the Mayor through his Communications Adviser, for a short interview on the apparent inconsistency of his strident historical views against equal citizenship rights for glbt folk, and hoped to go over some of his on the record attitudes to glbt issues, particularly in his personas as Member of Parliament, Minister of Police, Minister of Tourism and as a Radio Pacific talkback host. Is his conversion to gay-friendly mayor genuine and consistent? we wondered. Sadly, a week later, we have yet to hear back from either Banks or his adviser. It should perhaps be noted that Banks also said that he is the most accessible mayor ever, and that when we asked what was the best way for us to access him during the campaign he passed us the business card of the Mayoral office's Communications Advisor. After placing the request for an interview and information we started to research his past comments, checking facts and quotes. That led us to a book, due to be rolled out nationally next week, by ex-chief executive of Northland Polytechnic Noel Harrison, about a side of Banks that didn't seem to appear in his commissioned biography which preceded his first campaign for the mayoralty of Auckland City - the city with the largest concentration of glbt folk in New Zealand. Harrison's book “Banks, Behind the mask” attempts to reconcile many inconsistencies and peculiarities in the reported and self-promoted life of John Banks. It devotes a full chapter to Homophobia with links to another chapter on his self-professed Christianity. It should be noted that Harrison lost his job after being attacked in parliament by Banks, the allegations subsequently failed in court. We have arranged overnight with Harrison to have the first excerpting rights to his fascinating portrayal of Banks. Last night we read through those sections we believe to be of initial interest to gays and lesbians in Auckland and throughout the country. We present those slightly edited excerpts in our feature “Bigotry and barbed wire: The other side of John Banks. Harrison gives an alternative view of Banks' upbringing, contrasting Banks' own stories with the recollections of family members and associates. He talks to women MPs from Banks' Parliamentary days and paints a disturbing picture of a man seemingly uncomfortable with women, especially those with ability and power. Harrison's book is the first independent side-reaching survey of the life of “celebrity politician” John Banks and is one that we believe will fascinate glbt people through the country. To this end we have arranged mail-order delivery of Banks, Behind the Mask at standard retail pricing plus a small amount for p