Letters to the editor: Defacing shows why Tauranga needs pride festival

A sign that encourages people to "Embrace, accept, celebrate" diversity has been vandalised with religious bigotry. Photo / Supplied

The defacing of the Tauranga Moana Pride Signs at the Racecourse and Welcome Bay (reported in the Bay of Plenty Times on March 6) is a reminder of why we need a Pride Festival in Tauranga Moana.

With such overwhelming support for the festival from many businesses and organisations in our community it is easy to ask ourselves whether we need such an event that celebrates the rainbow community in this day and age.

Yet the defacing of these signs with the slogan "God resists the proud" are a reminder of the latent homophobia that still festers in some corners of our society and in our community right here in Tauranga Moana.

I want to call on all the faith communities in Tauranga Moana to examine how this could have happened.

How could God be used to denigrate? Is this your god? If it isn't, then shout that from your pulpits so there can be no misunderstanding about the views you hold.

If your faith community holds these views, then shame on you. You are proselytising a message of intolerance and hate.

Let's not let bigotry fester in our community.

Stand with our rainbow community in embracing, accepting and celebrating the richness that diversity brings to our community.

Helen Alice
Tauranga

Plastic mountain

How impressive - 165,000 new plastic bins for Tauranga City rubbish.

With a core objective of waste minimisation, it seems absolutely contradictory that scant attention seems to have been paid to the fate of these existing service bins as to whether they are to be reused, recycled or just more landfill.

Whilst waste reduction is applauded, surely a new plan in its completeness could have responsibly accommodated the existing 60,000 or so bins rather than generating yet another plastic mountain or a 20,000-year life landfill.

No information seems forthcoming to me, yet our planet suffers this degradation.

Jos Nagels
Brookfield

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