In 1986 Labour MP Fran Wilde, along with several gay activist groups such as the Gay Task Force and the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, succeeded in securing a highly significant legislative victory for LGBT New Zealanders. The passing of the Homosexual Law Reform Bill was the result of a long struggle between the government and gay men, who up until that point had been legally persecuted for their sexuality. Ever since 1840 New Zealand had adopted Britain’s stance on homosexuality, punishing consensual sex between two males for up to seven years in prison. Negative public attitudes coupled with heavy legal punishments caused gay men to hide their sexuality and live in constant fear of disgrace. In the 1950s and 60s public homophobia in New Zealand reached new heights. Extreme psychiatry measures, such as aversion therapy and electroconvulsive therapy, were commonly used as attempts to cure patients of their ‘mental illness’. Former Governor-General Lord Cobham’s words are reflective of the atmosphere at the time: “These people are mentally sick to as great an extent as, for example, people suffering from smallpox are sick.” Although charges became less heavy in these two decades - …show more content…
Across the world, society was undergoing a huge change, as many countries, such as Britain, were decriminalising homosexuality. The New York Stonewall riots brought the US gay liberation movement to the fore in 1969. These events re-energised the fight for homosexual rights in New Zealand. According to the Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, in the 1970s “old discretions gave way to a period of openness and experimentation… homophobia (dislike of homosexuality) and social authoritarianism were the problem, and ‘coming out’ was a solution.” More people began to realise that to get law reform they needed to talk more openly about the