Gay force says ignore antis
PA Wellington The Gay Task Force has asked homosexuals to stay away from meetings organised by anti-reform groups because their real purpose is provocation. The spokesman for the force, Mr Bill Logan, said leaving the anti-reformers to “stew in their own juice” at meetings without large numbers of gays would also show how small their real support was. Anti-reformers had been trying to provoke gays with insults and abuse at meetings “to do things which will look bad on the TV cameras,” he said. Mr Logan said gays were prepared to debate the law reform issue at public meet-
ings in a reasonable and rational manner.
Instead the meetings had been “one-sided platforms of bigotry”. It was “little short of incitement” to tell gays they are disgusting without giving them the right of reply. Mr Logan said the abuse levelled from meeting platforms would clearly be illegal if directed at a racial minority and it might even contravene the Police Offences Act.
However, he said the provocation strategy had backfired because the gay movement had been “extremely restrained.”
He thought New Zealanders’ could see that gay anger was justified and within reasonable bounds.
Gay force says ignore antis
Press, 23 April 1985, Page 19
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