The government should have gone for gay marriage instead of civil unions, suggests a heterosexual Herald commentator with a record of social conservatism on gay issues. Columnist John Roughan argued Saturday that marriage would be undermined by the creation of a parallel institution, a situation that could have been avoided if “the Government had simply the courage to grant homosexual couples their wish. They want their commitments recognised by the Marriage Act, nothing less, and there is no reason I can see to deny them. “It seems ironic that the Government's compromise with religious conservatism has created a greater threat to the status of marriage than a straightforward inclusion of homosexuals in the Marriage Act would have done,” Roughan continues. “In fact, the homosexual clamour to be included has been the first fillip that unfashionable institution has received in a long time.” Roughan's last column on homosexuality was a mean-spirited attack on gay parenting in 2003 in which he wondered whether a child of gay/lesbian parents would enjoy being "the lifelong star of his own freak show".
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Monday, 6th September 2004 - 12:00pm