Brian Tamaki at the March 25 protest day in Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell
There was a new cocktail being served on Auckland’s K Rd on Saturday night - the Bloody Hairy.
It’s named after British activist Posie Parker, who had tomato juice thrown in her hair on Saturday.
Parker - who reckons she is pro-women - had attempted to hold a rally promoting views such as trans women should not be able to use women’s spaces, like toilets or changing rooms.
She had planned to speak at the Albert Park rotunda on Saturday, and in Wellington today.
Except she got herself run out of town - out of the country, actually, by a rainbow counter-protest - a rainbow that didn’t so much have a pot of gold at the end as a large pot of bold LBGTQ supporters, who were having none of Parker’s vitriol.
Parker reckoned she feared for her life. I call BS on that one, because if her life was truly threatened, surely she would have put her damn phone down.
She didn’t, she kept right on streaming or filming to her online echo chamber.
People with views like Parker tend to generate discussion about whether her freedom of speech is being impinged upon.
The Act Party said it was a sad day for free speech and accused the counter-protesters of “violence and intimidation”.
Putting aside the dubious nature of Parker’s views, it’s a good point in terms of how protesters conduct themselves. It’s arguably not a successful protest if protesters garner attention and opinion that puts them on a lower rung on the lowlife ladder than the person they are protesting about.
But Posie, if Nazi acolytes are hanging around the fringes of your hui, it’s kind of a sign that perhaps the views are offensive to the extreme to a large portion of society.
What does it mean when the Brylcreemed Bishop of Tamaki is hanging around?
Tamaki was in Auckland on Saturday in support of his wife Hannah, who leads Vision NZ and was holding a simultaneous protest at Aotea Square.
The protest was either a hilarious coincidence or confrontational planning on the Tamakis’ part, because the counter protesters, the taste of blood-red tomato juice fresh on their lips, swung their attention to Vision NZ after seeing off Parker.
Vision NZ has progressive views around its opposition to “the sexualisation of children in our schools”.
On Saturday, speakers criticised trans athletes and the fact children were being taught at school about trans issues.
Here’s a question, or three, for Tamaki’s flock.
Why does a man of God worship the same material items that gangs use to portray an image of power - motorbikes and black leather jackets?
Throw in the black-clad congregation, and the odd person wearing a balaclava - who knows who they were supporting - and it all looks a bit sinister.
Tamaki oozes many things, and one of them is wealth.
One of them is not humility.
His ego has its own bike helmet.
Many people find the brash display of wealth, by church leaders, distasteful.
Many people wonder, in unprecedented times of crisis, exactly how much time, money and effort Destiny Church puts into helping the homeless, or those that are struggling to feed their whānau on less money per year than what Tamaki’s motorbike is worth.
It would be interesting to know.
The difference between Saturday’s conflict involving the counter-protest, and the two anti-trans factions, is that Parker left the country.
Brian Tamaki - and short-term, Vision NZ - are not going anywhere. Given the absence of progressive views expressed on Saturday, that isn’t surprising.
But as the election approaches, buckle up your rainbow-coloured belt, because more conflict is coming.
At least it will be an opportunity to see the true colours of the party and its supporters, beyond the black on the congregation’s T-shirts.