Since then the lesbigay community of New Zealand has not looked back. On August 8, 1986, the Homosexual Law Reform Act became law and New Zealand stepped into the modern age. Despite a storm of fundamentalist religious bigotry, MP Fran Wilde, supported by a devoted core of national gayadvocates, led the charge against ignorance and discrimination for 16 arduous months as she pushed, cajoled and persuaded legislators to vote for her landmark legislation which proposed to decriminalize consenting homosexual over the age of 16. Together these forces and traumas prompted closeted murmurs to become wails of protest that morphed into defiant activism against the prevailing ignorance and bias. Then came AIDS, accompanied by a strengthened Stonewall mentality plus several anti-gay miscarriages of justice that allowed gay bashers/murderers to escape punishment. ![]() Thirty years ago New Zealand was a nation of leftover stuffy Victorian attitudes toward human sexuality and a dense homophobic mindset about lesbigay love and life. Among the population another sort of diversity exists: age-old Maori tribal ways, conservative British traditionalists and a colorful, out-proud Lesbigay community savoring their federally legislative rights. Intro: A drive across the breadth and length of this adventure-land reveals a biodiversity of nature, from ancient forests to dense glaciers, from ragged fjords to calm penguin beaches, from postcard villages to boiling volcanoes.
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