Historian Gareth Watkins reflects on important July dates for the progress of New Zealand’s rainbow communities.
Late July 1970
At the National Party’s annual conference in Rotorua, delegates endorsed a proposal urging the Government to liberalise the law relating to homosexuality. Moving the remit, Mr Sutton of Miramar said the question of homosexuality was charged with “emotion, ignorance and fear”. The proposal sought to revise the law in line with humanitarian principles reflected in the Wolfenden Report, published in the United Kingdom in 1957.
However, the Minister of Justice, Dan Riddiford, said, “If there is to be a change in the law, which has by no means yet been decided, it should not be construed as an encouragement of the practice of homosexuality.”
The New Zealand Homosexual Law Reform Society welcomed the move. Its secretary, Jack Goodwin, said it could bring New Zealand into line with accepted ideals of social justice. It would take another 16 years before law reform finally occurred.
11 July 1973
National Radio broadcast a programme examining the possibility of homosexual law reform in New Zealand. Hosted by broadcaster Lindsay Perigo, Feminine Viewpoint brought together a wide range of voices: academics, police, clergy, reform advocates and gay men themselves.
Professor Jim Robb, former president of the New Zealand Homosexual Law Reform Society, argued for reform, saying it would remove a “great burden of anxiety” and allow gay men to take a fuller part in society. In contrast, Detective Chief Inspector John Stevenson claimed homosexuality carried an inherent “propensity for crime,” linking it with prostitution, robbery and homicide.
Religious voices were divided, with some expressing compassion while still describing homosexuality as abnormal. But possibly the most poignant moments came near the end of the programme, when three young gay men, Michael, Paul and Laurie, rejected the idea that they were sick, criminal or ashamed. Asked whether they would become heterosexual if they could, each said no.
6 July 2017
More than 30 years after the Homosexual Law Reform Act was passed, Parliament formally apologised for the historic criminalisation of consensual sexual activity between men. Justice Minister Amy Adams told the House: “Today we are putting on the record that this House deeply regrets the hurt and stigma suffered by the many hundreds of New Zealand men who were turned into criminals by a law that was profoundly wrong, and for that, we are sorry.”
The apology accompanied legislation to create New Zealand’s first expungement scheme. If an application was approved, a historical conviction for consensual homosexual activity would be treated as though it had never occurred. It would not appear on a criminal history check, and the person would be entitled to say they had no such conviction.
Heritage Spotlight: Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa, formerly known as LAGANZ
Its roots reach back to 1977, when the National Gay Rights Coalition established a resource centre to preserve its own archives and those of other queer organisations. Later known as the Lesbian and Gay Rights Resource Centre, it collected aspects of community life: newsletters, badges, photographs and organisational records.
As activism and visibility grew through the 1980s, so did the collections. Sadly, two months after homosexual law reform passed in 1986, the centre was attacked by arsonists. The fire caused significant damage, but most collections survived.
Today, Kawe Mahara remains a community-owned charitable trust, with its collections housed at the Alexander Turnbull Library by agreement with the Library. In July 2024, the archive established Queer History Month Aotearoa – Pūmahara Ia Te Wā. laganz.org.nz
