News
2006-01-10
Same-sex kisses
banned at New Zealand sports venue
Two straight
women who kissed at a cricket game were threatened with
eviction.
Apparently
Apparently
same-sex kisses, gay or straight, are just too much for
cricket fans in New Zealand. That's the conclusion of the
owners of a stadium, who say such displays of
affection are not appropriate at their venue.
The ruling
stemmed from an incident in which two straight women were
threatened with eviction after they exchanged a friendly
peck that was caught on camera and played on the big
screen to a cheering crowd. According to a report in
the Dominion Post, a security guard at the
one-day cricket international in Napier on Sunday told
the women they were distracting the crowd and would be
thrown out if they did it again. The women thought
their action was “just a bit of fun," but
according to a Westpac Trust Stadium spokesman, two women
kissing “is not appropriate” at a family
venue.
Labour cabinet
minister Chris Carter, who is gay, said he was
concerned by the incident. “It seems to me that this
is a human rights issue. If there’s no kissing
allowed at all, then fair enough. But if opposite-sex
couples can kiss, then...same-sex couples should be allowed
to as well,” he told the Post. “It
seems to me, as an ordinary gay person, that this is
very surprising and unfair.”
The Central
Districts Cricket Association has apologized to the women
for the guard’s behavior, despite defending the
policy held by the stadium. The security company
involved also defended the actions of the guard who
cautioned the women, saying that what the women did
“was inflammatory." (Advocate.com)
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