National Party Leader John Key needs to come out and decide where he stands on gay issues, says Auckland Central's Labour MP Judith Tizard. "John Key says in the Gay Express on 31 January that he is ‘planning to attend the Big Gay Out' and is ‘looking forward to it,'” points out Tizard. “Key also says ‘The Hero Festival has to my mind brought to many people a greater understanding of how much gay, lesbian, bi and transgender communities contribute to New Zealand'. "However, John Key chose to vote against all parts of the Civil Union legislation, which was passed under this government in 2004,” Tizard continues. "The vote on the Civil Union legislation was a personal (ie. conscience) vote and not dictated by party politics. So John Key was in fact free to support this landmark legislation'” Key told GayNZ.com last December he was just following the wishes of his electorate when he voted against Civil Unions last year. "Personally I have no problems with Civil Unions,” he said. “There was an argument put forward that civil unions would undermine marriage, and I never believed that line. I have been married for 22 years and the fact that a gay couple may choose to have a Civil Union would have absolutely no impact on my marriage to my wife." "Is John Key cynically trying to cosy up to the gay community to gain votes?” Tizard now asks, “Or is this just yet another flip flop by the National Party leader?” Ref: Judith Tizard, GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Friday, 9th February 2007 - 12:00pm