‘Aequus’ Earns Fine (Press, 30 November 1976)
This is a Generative AI summary of this newspaper article. It may contain errors or omissions. Please note that the language in the summary is reflective of the original article and the societal attitudes of the time in which it was written.
Summary: ‘Aequus’ Earns Fine (Press, 30 November 1976)
Paul Robert Harper Mating, a 60-year-old publicity officer for the Christchurch Gay Liberation Front, was fined $200 after being convicted for his involvement in the printing of an indecent document in February 1975. The case was heard at the Magistrate’s Court by Mr F. G. Paterson S.M. During the proceedings, Mating expressed that he did not acknowledge the court's jurisdiction over the matter. The document in question was an eight-page article titled "An Introduction to Homosexual Anal Intercourse," which appeared in the February 1975 edition of "Aequus," a monthly journal associated with the Gay Liberation Front. The article was deemed indecent by the Indecent Publications Tribunal, which led to Mating's conviction. When interviewed by Detective Sergeant R. Powell, Mating confirmed that he authored the article, however, he claimed that he did not write it with any immoral or mischievous intent. The Magistrate, in his ruling, referenced the tribunal’s findings that influenced their decision to categorise the article as indecent. Two key reasons highlighted were that the content addressed a behaviour that was illegal in New Zealand and that copies of the article had been accessed by individuals outside of the Gay Liberation Front community.
Important Information
The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact
The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand