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ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
New Plymouth Labor candidate Glen Bennett was approached for his sexuality after Gray Power and the Positive Aging Trust met with the candidate debate on Thursday.
A high-ranking Labor MP intervened, highlighting the prejudice of a debate attendee when he approached a New Plymouth candidate because of his sexuality.
After Gray Power and the Positive Aging Trust met with the candidate debate Thursday afternoon, an 89-year-old man approached Labor’s Glen Bennett.
The debate was attended by about 100 people, most of whom were over 65 years of age.
The man, unknown to Bennett, had raised a question that would be raised in the debate about whether the Labor candidate was gay, but it was not read.
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Bennett has made no secret of his sexuality and is engaged to marry his partner Jon O’Neill.
During Bennett’s exchange with the man, Labor MP Andrew Little, who attended the debate, stepped in to stop him.
ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
Labor MP Andrew Little attended the Gray Power and Positive Aging Trust nominees debate.
Little said the man’s stance was that people should know that Bennett is gay, because once they did, they wouldn’t vote for him.
“I said, ‘What you’re saying is out of line and completely unacceptable,'” Little recounted Friday.
For Bennett, it had been a rare experience for him to find such an opinion, but he was prejudiced against people because his sexuality still existed in some quarters.
“In 2020, there are still prejudices and there are still people who have those views.”
Bennett also shared what happened to the crowd gathered at The Mayfair, for the Under 25 Q&A session when the topic of LBGTQI + community empowerment was discussed.
He said the incident highlighted the need to ensure the protection of the rights of members of the LBGTQI + community.
Bennett joins TOP candidate Dan Thurston Crow as two openly gay candidates vying for the New Plymouth seat.
During previous discussions, Thurston Crow has discussed his marriage to Thomas, whom he married in 2017.
ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
Along with Bennett, TOP’s Dan Thurston Crow is another openly gay candidate in the New Plymouth electorate.
“I have to say that in Taranaki I almost never felt that my sexuality was a problem for anyone and, literally, at no point in the campaign has anyone bought it negatively,” he said.
In terms of Bennett’s post-debate experience, Thurston Crow said that “this is where the struggle between freedom from oppression and freedom of expression becomes complex and problematic.”
Thurston Crow said the man who spoke to Bennett felt he had “been denied access to a platform” because his question was not being read, but the 52-year-old felt he had no right to judge the man because he too once it was homophobic. beliefs.
“I myself grew up in a homophobic environment, which largely explains why I wasn’t ready to face my homosexuality until I was 45. I was homophobic myself, so hardly anyone to throw stones at.”
Thurston Crow believed that everyone deserved respect and validation and said he would welcome the opportunity to have broader and more public conversations about how society could be more inclusive.
When brought to the attention of Bennett’s experience, the president of the Positive Aging Trust, Lance Girling-Butcher, was shocked and was quick to distance his group from such beliefs.
“I’m horrified that there is that kind of attitude,” he said.
