Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Gaying Out

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  • Emma Hart,

    maybe because the Greens are so gay-friendly...

    Not meaning to pick on you guys, I vote Green, but if that's the case then for the Love of Mike could one of you put the fucking bill in the ballot!

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso, in reply to Paul Williams,

    Combine this comment with the earlier comment that he'd resign if National lost the election. It's increasingly clear that Key doesn't see himself in politics for much longer.

    We should help him fulfill this dream I reckon.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    Combine this comment with the earlier comment that he'd resign if National lost the election. It's increasingly clear that Key doesn't see himself in politics for much longer.

    This sort of reluctant leader schtick polls real well among the Right. There are quite a few GOP representatives who owe long careers to their promising to have short ones.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    ... can we have this discussion without ... actual lawyers just being dicks by asking people to do something they’re perfectly capable of doing better themselves) then the answer is “sure”. How consenting adults choose to arrange their social relationships is their own affair. Relationship law exists solely for convenience, to reduce the legal hassle for the parties involved. Our law should provide that convenience, while leaving people free to pursue the sorts of relationships they want to.

    Then on this, we appear to agree. And the reason I don't amend your bill to also recognise plural marriage is that it's your bill, and you might well oppose oppose conflating the two in a single piece of legislation, given that yours has a chance of being proposed, and mine does not. This wasn't concern trolling. This was "well, seeing as someone brought up marriage equality, how about marriage equality?" The next time someone says "If we allow gay marriage it will just lead to recognition of polygamy", I'd like someone to have the wit to say "damn straight!"

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    It also sounds like he's given up on being PM and is already started to fantasise about life outside of Parliament

    I've been thinking that more and more, from a lot of other things he's said recently. It's like "Been PM, got the t-shirt" and away.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Stewart,

    I was amazed that more wasn't made of Key's reluctance to embrace opposition when he announced it earlier. It came across as a "If I can't be the striker I'm taking my ball home and none of you can play" sort of remark.

    He appears to want all the trappings and status of being PM but can't be bothered with being a leader of the opposition now he's ticked the "be PM" box. Truly, I can't admire that and I am surprised Craig has let this slide without comment.

    Te Ika A Maui - Whakatane… • Since Oct 2008 • 577 posts Report Reply

  • Michael Stevens,

    To save you the trouble of searching for it, here is my take on the politicians and us homos at the BGO over here http://gayblade.blogspot.com

    It was a lovely day. Key's response to Oates smacks of his "I can't remember" when asked where he stood on the 81 Tour.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 230 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Stewart,

    He appears to want all the trappings and status of being PM but can’t be bothered with being a leader of the opposition now he’s ticked the “be PM” box. Truly, I can’t admire that and I am surprised Craig has let this slide without comment.

    Honestly, I’ve no idea why I’m supposed to comment on a statement by Key I haven’t see or heard first-hand. But since you went there, I wasn’t inclined to bitch Helen Clark for not wanting to have a second go at being opposition leader. Nor was I that surprised that, as it turned out, she repeatedly (and understandably) lied about her intentions to the media in the last weeks of the campaign when a Labour defeat was looking likely. (Unless you seriously expect me to believe her resignation and seamless transition to Turtle Bay was the result of a sudden rush of blood to the head. I have a lot more respect for Clark than that.)

    If you look at the increasingly pathetic and marginalised figures Muldoon and Lange cut in their post-Prime Ministerial parliamentary careers, I’d have to say I respect Clark a lot for not hanging around and collecting her salary. And I wouldn’t be that harsh on Key if he followed suit. Not all of us can be John Howard – or want to be, come to that.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Danyl Mclauchlan,

    Combine this comment with the earlier comment that he'd resign if National lost the election. It's increasingly clear that Key doesn't see himself in politics for much longer.

    The Standard keeping saying the same thing. I think Key really, really likes being an incredibly popular Prime Minister, and that he will stick with the job for the foreseeable future.

    This idea that Key's just going to suddenly vanish is related to the common sentiment in the Labour Party that the public should just 'wake up' and vote them all back into power. It's magical thinking.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Michael Stevens,

    To save you the trouble of searching for it, here is my take on the politicians and us homos at the BGO over here

    Uncle Toms? Bitch, you’re really going there?

    Look at National – I think it’s the last party to have closeted MPs sitting in it.

    But please give up the day job – a long and brilliant career in stand-up comedy stretches before you. I don’t do outings, but if you’re going to pull my middle leg like I'll have to insist you respect my 'no home base until the third date' rule. I may be a whore, but not a cheap one.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Danyl Mclauchlan,

    This idea that Key's just going to suddenly vanish is related to the common sentiment in the Labour Party that the public should just 'wake up' and vote them all back into power. It's magical thinking.

    +1 - and it's no substitute for being an effective opposition

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    I don’t know or care whether Clark and Davis have dissolved their marriage and entered into a civil union; but they have that choice.

    A couple doesn't have to dissolve their marriage to enter into a civil union with each other. They can just enter into a civil union with each other.

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    he has opinions

    No he doesn't - not until there is a poll that tells him which opinion is most popular. Which doesn't make him much different to any other politician it's just he's more obvious/unsubtle about it.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Michael Stevens,

    From your post, Michael:

    Then there is all the talk of a new Auckland "Mardi Gras", spilling from, the lips of Auckland Central National MP Nikki Kaye. She's a nice woman, what I've seen of her I like. She's on the more liberal end of the Nationals too, but I don't see any real support or understanding of gay issues from her, even though there are a lot of us in her electorate.

    Her first comments about a Mardi Gras were about how much money it could bring into the city - then after dissenting voices arose she hastily followed up by vague murmuring about "community". Hero, when it worked, had deep roots into all sorts of areas in gay Auckland, it had community buy-in on a big scale. As it weakened it came to rely more and more on corporate sponsorship, on being more business-like and less of a community event, and it failed, got boring, and imploded.

    People tend to forget that Hero didn't begin as an excuse to camp it up in the public roadway. It was an Aids awareness event staged by the NZ Aids Foundation.

    I recall interviewing Rex Halliday about it before the 1992 party and almost being in tears as he talked about loss and grief.

    We clubbed in on the day of the party at Princes Wharf and bought a penniless gay friend of ours a ticket. He was so excited at being surrounded by other gay people. This was a time when the New Zealand Herald refused to use the word "lesbian" and essentially blanked Hero itself, even though it was drawing 3000 people to the waterfront. It's hard to believe now.

    And then at the party, when Hattie St John did 'Wind Beneath My Wings' from up in the rafters, I actually did cry. Sometimes, cheese is what you need.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    they’re too fucking spineless

    They're not spineless, it's just that they want power and they know that open honest opinions will offend some people who might otherwise vote for them.

    We select politicians based on popularity so we get people who become expert at being popular with the largest number of voters possible. They will say whatever needs to be said at the time and if necessary will say the exact opposite the next day. The not being spineless, that's politics in NZ.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    This was a time when the New Zealand Herald refused to use the word "lesbian" and essentially blanked Hero itself, even though it was drawing 3000 people to the waterfront.

    Srsly? Wow....

    Did they make coded references to 'women in sensible shoes'?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • TracyMac,

    I'm not in favour of marriage at all, personally - I think it should ALL be civil unions. You want to have a ceremony under the auspices of your god, great, go to it - I just don't think that should have any legal relevance.

    That being said, as has been observed, us queers ARE still second-class citizens when it comes to relationship recognition. Also, I don't think they've sorted the adoption issue either, have they? Can a gay COUPLE adopt children? (A gay individual can.)

    And actually, being polyamorous, I'm in favour of having some kind of legal recognition of multiple relationships (can we please not use the word "polygamy", ugh. It's correct in terms of multiple marriage, but the connotations...), rather than the current bodge job of financial contracts, powers of attorney and the like that people currently cobble together.

    Canberra, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 701 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Isn’t it a rather delicious irony that three straight women have done more for the civil rights of this gay man than anyone else?

    When Key and Goff grow a pair of ovaries, I’ll be the first to cheer from the roof tops.

    Just have to say, Craig, I love the "grow a pair of ovaries".

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Anyone remember that NZ Butter advert with Lenny Henry and the Ponsonby Rugby Club?

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    I'm not in favour of marriage at all, personally - I think it should ALL be civil unions.

    If you don't like marriage, don't get married. Problem solved. But telling other people how to live their lives? That's exactly the shit that has been heaped on the gay community by bigots.

    And in NZ law, marriage has nothing to do with invisible sky faeries. Its entirely civil. What matters is not whether there is a church and a priest, but whether you fill out the paperwork and make an appropriate statutory declaration before a government official.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Rich Lock,

    Srsly? Wow….

    Did they make coded references to ‘women in sensible shoes’?

    I think they just tried to avoid mentioning lesbians at all.

    But now you are indulging my procrastination. Hero report from Hard News, Feb 1996:

    Well, another year, another Hero. The Ponsonby Road parade made page three of the Herald this year, along with a large photograph. It seems a long time since the paper's appalling editor Peter Scherer refused to send a reporter to the Hero Party, even though it took place less than a mile from his offices.

    Actually, the Herald's Harold Angel column has been hitting exciting new peaks lately. Here, verbatim and in full, is one of the scintillating items from Wednesday's paper: "An Auckland firefighter attending a molten glass spill at a Penrose factory last week was Senior Station Officer Glass." Oh! The wit!

    Anyway, suffering from the heterosexual disease of dog-tiredness from coping with kids, we didn't make it across the gully to see the Hero parade itself, but there was an assembly point just near our house, which was almost as good. For hours, our quiet Grey Lynn streets were thronged with twinkle-toed Priscilla clones and topless lesbians painted red from head to toe. Most excellent. We took the boys out to have a look, but they were more interested in the big trucks than the costumery. I fear, dear listener, that they may already be on the path to heterosexuality.

    The participants trailed back to the neighbourhood after the parade and before the party and some lesbians began excitedly disrobing outside our window. They were very nice lesbians, but their blood sugar seemed a bit low, so we gave them some biscuits and chocolate bars and sent them on their way with our best wishes.

    Lolz. I cannot even remember that, but it must have happened because Russell Brown said so.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Hard News February 1998:

    Jenny certainly won a lot of admiration for her attendance and her wise words at the Hero Parade [http://nz.com/NZ/Queer/HERO/] last weekend. It really does feel like things are changing for the better when the PM turns up and has a good time in the rain. She told a friend of mine that she could hardly do otherwise, given that she'd surrounded herself with quite a few gay staff.

    Let's not forget also that Helen Clark, Sandra Lee, Judith Tiazrd, Joe Hawke and Clem Simich turned up to join the fun. Clem Simich! On ya, Clem!

    I'm given by several sources to understand that the Ship regards Mills and his council cronies as a bunch of morons. Phil Raffils even wrote her a letter begging her not cave into the forces of darkness and revealed himself to be even more stupid than anyone had previously suspected.

    On that score, it seems we're suddenly encountering a whole new class of victims - the bigots. According to Brian Edwards and others, people who have "reservations" about "gay culture" and the "gay lifestyle" shouldn't be called names. The poor things. Edwards, who is a nice man and a good broadcaster, suffers from the classic baby-boomer media-man affliction of believing the world revolves around him. It's not about you, Brian.

    Look, Les Mills and David Hay didn't have "reservations" about Hero - it was nothing so passive as that. What they did was deliberately stack a council committee meeting in order to reverse the advice of the council's own officials to provide the basic services they'd extend to any other gathering of this size. Some victims.

    And for so long as Phil Raffils, the principal of Avondale College, tells gay teenagers that they are sick and should be "cured" I don't think any insult is too harsh. Remember when the Herald under Peter Scherer wouldn't report on Hero? Remember when he wouldn't allow the words "gay" or "lesbian" in his newspaper? It's not that long ago.

    One day, quite soon I hope, we'll be saying "remember when the morons on the council wouldn't get behind Hero?". I know which side I want to be on. So ... who's going to get Bill Ralston to stand for the mayoralty? G'bye!

    Who wrote that last part? Clearly, not every idea I had was a good one.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Meanwhile, if Key and Goff aren’t embarrassed enough by being shown up by Ted-fucking-Olson here’s an outbreak of civilization from the British Tory-LibDem coalition:

    Ministers are expected to announce plans allowing same-sex couples to register civil partnerships in church, removing a key legal distinction between the ceremony and marriage.

    The move, likely to be announced by Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister, would lift the ban on civil partnerships taking place in religious settings in England and Wales. Same-sex couples are currently not allowed to use hymns or Bible readings in civil ceremonies, but it is unclear whether this would change or whether civil partnership ceremonies in places of worship could formally be described as marriages.

    The Home Office said: “The government is currently considering what the next stage should be for civil partnerships, including how some religious organisations can allow same-sex couples to register their relationship in a religious setting if they wish to do so."

    Though I've to to admit I find it bizarre that, even in a country with a de facto state religion, the British Government can regulate the use of Bible readings and hymns.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to TracyMac,

    I’m not in favour of marriage at all, personally – I think it should ALL be civil unions. You want to have a ceremony under the auspices of your god, great, go to it – I just don’t think that should have any legal relevance.

    Doing a quick flick through the mental appointment book, I haven’t been to a religious wedding ceremony for four or five years – and it took, IIRC, some swift footwork for my parents’ wedding to be conducted in a Catholic church since Dad wasn’t a Catholic. But, in terms of civil law, all that was irrelevant. I certainly hope that my parents' marriage is legal under the Marriage Act, or I really am a bastard. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Meanwhile, if Key and Goff aren’t embarrased enough by being shown up by Ted-fucking-Olson here’s an outbreak of civilization from the British Tory-LibDem coalition:

    The NZ civil union legislation did this from day one -- leaving it up to individual churches to decide whether they wanted to conduct the ceremonies. So that distinction was never there in our law.

    The Catholic church swung the ban hammer immediately, the Methodists hummed-and-hahhed before deciding against it and the Anglicans seemed to leave it up to individual clergy for a while, but then disallowed clergy from performing civil union ceremonies in their official roles last year.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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