To observe the 30th anniversary of homosexual law reform in Aotearoa, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision has compiled a special screening programme (NZ, 72 min, Exempt) that will take the viewer back to the heated meetings, street rallies and debates that began almost immediately after the introduction of the bill into Parliament on 8 March 1985.
Labour MP Fran Wilde’s Homosexual Law Reform Bill was not the first attempt at law reform. There had been a number of reform attempts in Parliament starting...
To observe the 30th anniversary of homosexual law reform in Aotearoa, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision has compiled a special screening programme (NZ, 72 min, Exempt) that will take the viewer back to the heated meetings, street rallies and debates that began almost immediately after the introduction of the bill into Parliament on 8 March 1985.
Labour MP Fran Wilde’s Homosexual Law Reform Bill was not the first attempt at law reform. There had been a number of reform attempts in Parliament starting in the 1970s, preceded by years of action by community groups seeking equality.
Fran Wilde’s bill set out to decriminalise homosexual activity between adult consenting males and make it illegal to discriminate against anyone based on their sexual orientation. It took 16 months to make its way through Parliament. In that time there were numerous public events – both for and against reform – held throughout the country. Many of these were featured in television news bulletins, and now form the main part of this screening programme.
Learn more at http://www.ngataonga.org.nz/events/thin-edge-of-the-wedge-homosexual-law-reform-in-aotearoa-new-zealand-1985-1986
Feature image: MP Norman Jones rallying against homosexual law reform, 1985. Photograph courtesy of David Hindley.
