Robertson has been ladled as a prime candidate by many other party members, and one of the main parties that work with labour, the green party, although not stating their preference, stated that 'the party would find all three likely contenders - David Cunliffe, Grant Robertson and Andrew Little - easy to work with.' In an article on stuff.co.nz.\
So what’s the issue?
And what makes Robertson so different?
If Robertson was to become leader of the Labour party, not only would he be the first openly gay leader of a major party, but he could also potentially become the world’s first openly gay Prime minister.
Although the thought of this fills me with excitement and restores my faith in the world, I just don’t think we are ready just yet. Yes we just passed the marriage equality bill, and yes New Zealand has come a long way in terms of acceptance but there is still a strong stigma around the idea of being gay, and the gay community.
The main reason I don’t think we are ready is because if Robertson was voted in, the harassment that he might receive could have a huge affect on young LGBT kids that are currently looking for role models to help them through the process of accepting themselves.
another reason why we arnt ready for a gay priminister is also because of the fact that we are definging him as just that.
Finally i don thinl that the WORLD is ready for a gay priminster. major powers in the world such as russia, many asian countrie and many arab countrys are not at the same level as New Zealand when it comes to equality.
Anyway let me know your views in the comments below and let’s get chatting.
Look forward to hearing from you :-)
At first I thought you miight have some covert gay hate agenda in this issue, but I do think we're caught in that sort of catch 22, dichotomy situation where on one hand, It would speak volumes for the visibility of Gay officials in society, and of our country's stance on homosexuality, and 2, the harassment factor really IS an issue. It shouldn't be but It undoubtedly would be. I think you're right to assume this could potentially have a backwards affect on Gay youths/role models because it would still cast that doubt.... also electing a gay leader leaves him very OPEN to social scrutiny and I think that in itself would then make prejudicing against him an Open topic. If you get what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you have introduced your topic on your blog as the rhetorical questions actually made me stop reading and think about the situation, then carry on reading the rest of your introduction to find out the angle you have taken on this issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Daniel that it was right to assume that this could possibly have an unwanted affect on the youth, although having a gay prime minister could help other people young or old to come out and be more open about it.
Especially after the marriage equality bill this could possibly be too much for New Zealand to handle just yet, as that took a while, but maybe that's what NZ needs?
There really is no way to get around the issue of harassment, though a gay PM would give many others confidence in being accepted themselves, the timing may not be great, but, in a way it could be a good thing to deal with it now rather than later because it could really push acceptance and equality into being something that could actually happen soon, here and now, as opposed to when we are all grandparents and our grandchildren are still fighting for acceptance. It will always be hard to be the first of anything, but once the way is paved it could be surprising how much support and acceptance come thereafter. I do not disagree with your argument entirely, just showing a little more argument from the opposite direction, I would've liked to see your thoughts on the possibility of the positive effects that could come from a gay PM, though. It does seem a little like a doom and gloom prediction, but is completely plausible and a very likely outcome.
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