Although morals campaigners frequently talk about gays and lesbians undermining family, Waikato Times columnist Denise Irvine says its time to be reminded that gays and lesbians *are* family. "Those who oppose the Civil Union Bill have frequently talked about its dire effect on families. And yet gay men and women are family," she says. "They're much-loved sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles, part of the inner circle, not the outer." "...the recent ferment over the Civil Union Bill, which would enable same-sex couples to legalise and celebrate their relationships, seems to have plunged us back to the dark days before 1986, when the Homosexual Law Reform Bill decriminalised homosexuality and made life a lot more comfortable for the gay community. Irvine notes that the untold evils predicted by those against homosexual law reform never came to pass, and wonders why – 18 years later – the same arguments are being dragged up again for civil unions. “Many of the arguments raised against it are echoes from another age, and it also baffles me that so much of the current opposition has come from various churches – organisations committed to out-reach, compassion and inclusiveness. Some of them fail, in this instance, to practise what they preach."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 31st October 2004 - 12:00pm