- About 30 to 40 members of the Destiny-linked Man Up group protested at the Wellington Pride Parade yesterday.
- Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau and others said they were ‘not welcome’ and were spreading hate.
- It comes after Destiny was widely condemned for past protests at pride events in Auckland.
The backlash against Destiny Church protests at pride events has not deterred it from disrupting another event in Wellington.
Church leader Brian Tamaki said this morning he was “proud” of members of the Man Up group who temporarily blocked the Wellington Pride Parade yesterday.
A group of between 30 and 40 people from the Destiny-linked group performed a haka near Taranaki Street in central Wellington while a police line kept them separated from the parade.
Mayor Tory Whanau, who was at the start of the parade, told RNZ that the police reacted quickly and many attendees did not know the protest had happened.
It comes after widespread condemnation of Man Up and Destiny Church over its actions during the Auckland Pride Festival last month.
Members of Man Up disrupted a children’s book reading hosted by a drag king at Te Atatu Library, leading to parents and children barricading themselves inside. Tamaki had urged the group to “storm the library”.
The incident received international media coverage and was criticised by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and community leaders.
Police consequently said they would stop referring people to Destiny’s Man Up and Legacy programmes, which were among providers used for rehabilitating domestic violence offenders or drug addicts.
Following the backlash, Tamaki appeared to recommend restraint to his followers, saying he did not want to see protesters at the Big Gay Out or a pride counter-protest at Albert Park.
But in a statement released this morning, he said he supported the Man Up protest in Wellington, saying they were “making a stand to protect our children”.
He also said he would lead a delegation to Parliament to “demand action” on public expressions of pride and public funding for pride events.
Whanau told RNZ yesterday that the Man Up protesters were spreading hate and bigotry.
“They are not welcome here. They are not welcome in Wellington. As you can see with the amazing numbers here, Wellington city is all about diversity, and it’s all about our rainbow community, takatāpui, and it will always remain this way.”
Ahead of the parade, event manager Craig Watson had said organisers were prepared for possible incidents and told participants to keep peaceful, remain calm and ignore any protests.
In a statement, Rainbow Youth and InsideOUT said there was no place for hate and violence in Aotearoa.
InsideOUT managing director Tabby Besley said “loud, bigoted voices” were only being drowned out from the growth of visibility in the rainbow community.
“It is time the Government takes serious action to prevent and respond to violence towards rainbow communities. The recent incidents at Auckland Pride are part of an organised ongoing attack on rainbow people’s rights to be themselves and come together.”
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