The operators of a tongue-in-cheek watchdog website aimed at publicising through humour the excesses of the fundamentalist Christian movement in New Zealand have publicly voiced their disgust at a Wellington speech by Destiny Church guru Brian Tamaki. In a public statement, HappyClappingHomos.com's authors write: "In his Nation Under Siege presentation in Lower Hutt on the evening of Friday the 7th of July, Brian Tamaki of Destiny Church drew parallels between current government policies, namely the Prostitution Reform and Civil Unions acts, to the recent terrorist bombings in London. Tamaki, addressing an audience of several hundred expressed the belief that legislation 'normalising' gay relationships was an act of "social terrorism" and posed an equal if not greater danger than that recently experienced in London. HappyClappingHomos.com would like to take this chance to roundly condemn the cheap shot of cashing in on the tragedy and loss of others for nothing more than political point scoring for his Destiny New Zealand off shoot. We publicly register our complete disgust at the notion that the gay community in this country are responsible for acts of terror, and would further point out to Mr. Tamaki that in all probability the terrorist acts in London were carried out by fundamentalists with views not too dissimilar to his own. We extend our sympathy to the citizens of London, and to those in this country with loved ones who are currently far from home and extend our wishes that one day we can live in a world without terror caused by hate and intolerance." Scott, HappyClappingHomos.com - 11th July 2005
Credit: Scott, HappyClappingHomos.com
First published: Monday, 11th July 2005 - 12:00pm