A new Act list MP turned up drunk to a TV panel discussion in June and started comparing gays and paedophiles in an "unbelievably unprofessional" appearance, the NZ Herald has revealed today. Said Act's law and order spokesperson David Garrett at the taping of TVOne's Eye To Eye programme: Paedophiles, like homosexuals, 30 years ago homosexuals had, according to experts, a disease and they needed to be cured and it was a spectacular failure because homosexuality is a sexual orientation, so we decided that because there were 10 per cent of people who were homosexual it was no longer a disease. "Paedophiles cannot be cured any better than…," he continued, before being interrupted by other panel members. The show's host Willie Jackson then accused Garrett of having as "obsession" with gay people, and dismissed his comment as a "stupid analogy." Garrett defended himself in the Herald today, saying he is not homophobic and mentioning his close friend who was "flagrantly gay" and had MC'd at his wedding. He said he had apologised for the drunken TV appearance, but claimed the others on the panel just "didn't get" his argument. Today's full NZ Herald story is on the link below, and a link to video of Garrett's TV appearance is also provided.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Sunday, 16th November 2008 - 6:41pm