Opponents of the proposed civil unions bill received support from an unlikely ally yesterday when the country's first openly gay politician came out against the bill.
Professor Marilyn Waring, New Zealand's first openly lesbian politician, joined the Christian and family- oriented groups opposed to the Civil Union Bill athearings before Parliament's Justice and Electoral Law Select Committee in Auckland.
But the former Raglan and Waipa National MP - unlike the majority of submitters who said the bill undermined marriage and the family unit - believes the bill does not go far enough.
Professor Waring instead called for amendments to the 1954 Marriage Act and the 1995 Births Deaths and Marriages Registration Act to allow for same-sex marriages.
"Equivalence is not equality."
The professor in public policy at Massey University, Albany, believes excluding same-sex couples from marriage is discrimination.
She claims the bill is "inconsistent with the rights and freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights".
Professor Waring wants New Zealand to follow Canada's example and highlighted a court case in Quebec, where civil union for gay and lesbian couples is already in place.
In the June 2003 Halpern case, the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal against a Superior Court ruling in favour of equal marriage rights. The court lifted a suspension which allowed same-sex appellants to marry.
"Quebec is very important as it was a province with civil unions for gays and lesbians - and the courts held that this was not equality.
"The case was ultimately about the recognition and protection of human dignity and equality in the context of social structures available to conjugal couples in Canada."
Professor Waring also related her experience as witness at the marriage of friend Brettel Dawson to Angie MacDonald in Toronto. Ms Dawson is in the process of having her marriage registered in New Zealand.
