The campaign to reform the law moved beyond the gay community to wider issues of human rights and discrimination this campaign also took aims and ideas from previous liberation movements. There were many different viewpoints from both extremes of radicals and conservatives. The different groups all anticipated different outcomes if the law reform was to occur. The conservatives claiming that the patriarchal family would no longer be the normal and there would be a spread of AIDS. Other believed that society wouldn’t change much except for the fact that homosexuals would be treated the same as heterosexuals.
There is a long history of opposition to sexual activity between men and an equally long history of legislation that criminalised this activity. New Zealand has taken a large amount of laws and social cues from England and other western countries but not to the same extent. The gay liberation movement was about achieving more than just a legal change, they also wanted a change in the attitudes of society. The objectives of gay liberation were similar to those of the women’s liberation and black rights. They wanted a law change that would give 75 000 New Zealanders equality. Gays wanted to be proud of who they are rather than having to hide it.