The dorian society
The Dorian Society was formed in 1962 and was the first organisation for homosexual men. It was originally just a social club but in 1963 a subcommittee was formed who took political action which the original organisation avoided doing. This sub-committee was called NZHLRS (New Zealand Homosexual Law Reform Society) Jack Goodwin was the first secretary of NZHLRS. By 1967 it sought advice from the English Homosexual Law Reform Society and Albany Trust on the legislative changes occurring there. This led to a New Zealand society dedicated to law reform. Its first project was a petition, signed by 75 prominent citizens, presented to (and rejected by) Parliament in 1968.
nzhlrs
The NZHLRS had the primary objective of gaining political equality with heterosexuals. Clause 4 of the NZHLRS constitution
said; ‘The society does not seek moral approval of homosexual behaviour.’ This was the complete opposite of gay
liberation whose main goal was to gain moral approval. This was a reasonably conservative
organisation when it first formed but after gay liberation began and gays began
looking for acceptance into society as well as a law reform several more
conservative members of the group began to leave. Ian Breward who was a conservative member of
the groups said that he did not believe that homosexual intercourse was on the
same level as a married heterosexual couple.
There were people who supported the law reform but were still prejudice
towards gays.
Chris Parkins who was a member of the NZHLRS and at one point he chairperson was more radical that other members. He wanted gays to be accepted in society not just tolerated. In the 1960s there were many conservative people with strong views. What was said by gay liberationists needed to be worded carefully as to not upset and anger people.
Gay liberation movement
The Gay Liberation Movement was not essentially about law reform its main focus was to achieve social equality. They were also about helping gays by providing social help services such as counselling. They wanted gays to no longer have to hide who they are and have pride in themselves. The gay liberation movement emerged in the 1960s and a cause of it was the post war affluence and the urbanisation of society. Without this stability it would not have been possible for the gay liberation movement to begin. The gay liberation organisations were recognised in the 1970s as seeking not just a political change but also a change in society’s attitude towards them. They wanted political and social equality with heterosexuals. They were desperate to seek moral approval from society.
Through gay liberation, the distinction of homosexuality identity was now added to the distinctions of behaviour and orientation. The significance of this was explained by Altman, “The greatest single victory of the gay movement over the past decade has been to shift the debate from behaviour to identity, thus forcing opponents into a position where they can be seen as attacking the civil rights of homosexual citizens rather than attacking specific (as they see it) antisocial behaviour.
The gay liberation movement in Wellington decided not to elect a chairperson this meant there was a lack of structure and caused them to be unstable financially. Eventually they were forced to create more defined positions of leadership. They were an organisation aiming to create equality so they wanted equality within themselves but they needed to be more realistic. Many social movements struggle with the attaining the balance between idealism and political effectiveness. They were a very spontaneous and radical group so they needed to make sure that they set goals and had a strategy. They had to decide whether they wanted to focus more on creating political or social change. There were many different opinions within the group so this caused segregation in the group.
It was a very in your face organisation rather than a more deliberate and respectable organisation. They were very radical and they had a frequent and direct approach with pickets, posters and placards.
Gay rights march, New Zealand 1978, Photographer unknown, courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand (LAGANZ Collection, LAGANZ-MS-Papers-0607-087)
Gay rights march, New Zealand 1978, Photographer unknown, courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand (LAGANZ Collection, LAGANZ-MS-Papers-0607-087)
The catalyst for the gay liberation came in 1972. The New Zealand University Students’ Association nominated Ngahuia Volkerling for a United States government funded tour to United States’ campuses. In completing paperwork for the proposed trip, Volkerling indicated that as a homosexual Maori woman she wished to look at the American Gay Liberation and ‘Red Power’ (Native American) movements. The issuing of the visa stalled. Informal information seemed to indicate that Volkerling was being blocked from taking up the scholarship because of her lesbianism. Having fronted up at the United States consulate on 15 March 1972, and finding out that grounds for declining visas included the category of ‘sexual deviance’, Volkerling then went to the University of Auckland campus and made a fiery speech challenging students to be open about their homosexuality. As a result of this a gay liberation meeting took place on 21 March 1972. This sparked the formation of gay liberation groups in Wellington and Christchurch also. Volkerling visited Wellington and Christchurch in May 1972, which led to the immediate formation of the groups. Each of these groups were based on the university campuses in the cities.
In 1972 the first gay pride march was held in Hyde Park in Wellington.
Gavin Young who was a gay activist had the argument that once the human rights legislation covered gays then the criminal law would be changed.
Throughout the 1970s, the New Zealand gay-rights movement lobbied the government, demanding that homosexuality be legalised. But its efforts failed to bring about change.Instead, the gay movement made its own amendments to legislation. The Equality Bill, promoted under the slogan 'the people approve. A Bill is ready. Why delay?', proved to be controversial within the movement and was abandoned in 1983.
Gay rights poster 1985, Designed by Neill Costelloe (1960–90), published by and reproduced courtesy of the New Zealand University Students' Association and the Wellington Gay Task Force
The 1985 Homosexual Law Reform Bill proposed that the age of consent for gay couples be 16 – the same as that for heterosexual couples. There was debate within gay rights groups over the age of consent. It was known that some Members of Parliament would only support the bill if the proposed age were 18 or 21. However, gay rights campaigners decided to push for 16, even if it meant the bill might fail, because equal rights for heterosexuals was a core concern.
The law reform campaign gained a high profile through marches, meetings and extensive media coverage. Street marches in Wellington drew several thousand supporters of law reform, including this group with their placard 'What are you afraid of?'
gay task force
Gay Task Force releases series of pamphlets to assist lobbyists. – 1985. The fact that they were petitioning for the age consent to be 16 was very radical. It was said at the time that because they had such radical demands which would cause the alienation of several MPs who may have supported them if their demands were less extreme. They rebutted the stereotype that homosexuals were paedophiles and they strongly argued that sexual orientation was not something that could be changed. The Gay Task Force (Wellington) publicly
calls for law reform as a necessary AIDS prevention measure, and declares its
existence publicly. – 7 January 1985.
Tension between nzhlrs and gay liberation
There was always tension between gay liberation and the NZHLRS it was caused by their very different views and aims. In January 1977 NGRC (National Gay Rights Coalition) was formed but gay liberation objected to NZHLRS joining because they believed their aims were limited. The aims of NGRC were:
1. To liberate gays by promoting a social environment free from repressive laws; discrimination; social attitudes causing fear, guilt, shame and loneliness; sexism; sexual stereotyping.
2. To work fro the rights, interests and wellbeing of all gays.
3. To support the liberation of other groups oppressed in terms of (1) above.
Gay liberation was fighting for all aspects of equality with heterosexuals not just a law reform with caused the tension.
1. To liberate gays by promoting a social environment free from repressive laws; discrimination; social attitudes causing fear, guilt, shame and loneliness; sexism; sexual stereotyping.
2. To work fro the rights, interests and wellbeing of all gays.
3. To support the liberation of other groups oppressed in terms of (1) above.
Gay liberation was fighting for all aspects of equality with heterosexuals not just a law reform with caused the tension.
NZHLRS were slightly more conservative than gay liberation. Gay liberation was making claims that 10% or more of the population was gay whereas NZHLRS said 5-10% were. They were also less radical so they did not offend those who could potentially support them such as religious people and MPs.
This Coalition for Homosexual Law Reform poster was designed by Malcolm McAlister. It reads ‘Support the Bill; equality for all lesbians and gays. Public meeting, Opera House, 15 August 1985’.