Tue 2 Nov 2010 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Auckland Mayor Len Brown Len Brown's moves to be an inclusive mayor of Auckland are being welcomed; however his apparent belief that being queer is a "choice" has prompted some concern from the head of GLBT support service OUTLine. In a chat with GayNZ.com last week, the new Mayor of Auckland promised his door would always be open to members of the GLBT community. The staunch Catholic promised to represent everyone in the city, saying "I am very aware and sensitive to people making their own choices about their life. And I'm totally respectful of that. "You can make your own choice totally. I've got nothing more to say. It's the 21st Century." OUTLine General Manager Vaughan Meneses says it's a positive thing that Brown seems to be taking the right steps to be an inclusive Mayor of Auckland. "And being a self confessed 'staunch Catholic' I am looking forward to him keeping his promises, not just the ones he has made in this article, but the ones he made through his campaign. "I know a large number of rainbow people who voted for him and part of that was, in my belief, a confidence that even though we may not agree with everything he says, he does seem to be consistent and will be a unifying force in the bigger picture." Meneses does find it a little disconcerting that Brown seems to be of the belief that being queer is a choice. "Being Catholic or other 'insert other religion here' is a choice. It concerns me that some people who choose to believe in a particular faith also choose to project their rationale of 'choice' onto others. "I am as gay as the sky is blue and I don't choose to believe the sky is blue, it just is. So while staunch people like Len Brown choose to look towards the heavens, they could stop to notice colour of the sky, and if they are really lucky they will see a rainbow in all its glory for exactly what it is – a refraction of light caused by nature. And I bet most of them will be able to tell you where they believe all the colours come from – whether nature, God, Zeus, Buddha, Christ, or Krishna." Meneses says the only real choice people from the rainbow community get to make is whether to be honest and true to themselves. "Most also get to choose life, sadly some make the other choices – to be hidden, to be shamed or to be dead. Hopefully Len will learn and inform himself a little during his time of supremacy and will reflect a little more on the language he chooses. "However, this time I am prepared to forgive him this one slip of the tongue, after all 'to err is human, to forgive is divine'. I will choose the higher road this time."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 2nd November 2010 - 2:40pm