Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre will be lit up in the colours of the transgender flag. Photo / Getty Images
Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre will be lit up in the colours of the transgender flag. Photo / Getty Images
Lower Hutt's Mayor has apologised after saying controversial group Speak Up For Women could hold one of their events in a council waste bin.
Meanwhile, one of the group's billboards has been taken down from one of Go Media's central Wellington sites.
These developments come on the same day as Wellington City Council will light up the Michael Fowler Centre in the colours of the transgender flag timed for when the group holds an event there.
Speak Up For Women opposes proposed amendments in a Bill enabling people to self-identify their sex on their birth certificate without going to the Family Court.
The group has been called anti-trans and transphobic, something they reject.
Recently the High Court ruled one of the group's events should be allowed to go ahead at Palmerston North City Library, after the council cancelled the booking.
The judge said the group "cannot rationally be described as a hate group".
Dunedin and Christchurch city councils have previously refused to allow the group to hold meetings in public facilities, but following the court decision a meeting at Auckland's Town Hall went ahead as planned.
Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry posted on Facebook last week saying: "If this group needs a venue in the Hutt, I've got some nice new waste bins they can use?"
Hutt City Mayor Campbell Barry. Photo / Georgina Campbell
The Free Speech Union made a complaint about the comment.
Union spokesman Jordan Williams said the comment was discriminatory.
"Elected officials need to get with the programme. Free speech matters, and the law requires it. They cannot use public office and local facilities as personal serfdoms to discriminate against political views they do not like."
Today Barry apologised if Speak Up For Women felt offended by his comment.
He said the right to meet, speak and debate was important and his comment was in response to some supporters of the group making "derogatory and harmful comments" towards transgender people.
"In terms of my beliefs, I do not support the views of this group and the harm that members within it promulgate."
Barry said while this was his personal view, he has no decision-making authority about the use of council venues, which was ultimately a matter for staff.
In Wellington City, a Speak Up For Women billboard has been removed from the CBD today.
The billboard in question. Photo / Speak Up For Women
In a statement Go Media general manager Simon Teagle said it was removed as soon as the company started fielding calls from offended New Zealanders.
He believed the billboard could be in breach of the Advertising Standards Authority's codes.
The contract with the advertiser was on hold until there was a clear determination from the authority, Teagle said.
"Go Media is an inclusive, locally-owned New Zealand business and we support all communities. While we believe in freedom of speech, we do not condone content that upsets our community.
"We apologise unreservedly for any distress this may have caused anyone, and remedied the situation as soon we could."
Go Media is also a partner of the Wellington Phoenix.
Club general manager David Dome tweeted this morning that he has contacted Go Media for its position on the advertisement, which would be reviewed accordingly.
He said the billboard was at "complete odds with the club's position on diversity and inclusion and specifically LGBTQI+".
The billboard displays a definition of the word "woman" as being "adult human female" along with the website address speakupforwomen.nz.
Speak Up For Women's spokeswoman Beth Johnson said in a statement the billboard was up for 24 hours before it was pulled down.
"The same vexatious complainants who have been harassing the women's group for years have managed to bully a media company into bowing to their demands," Johnson said.
The Michael Fowler Centre. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The group is holding an event in the Lion Harbourview Lounge at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington from 6pm on Thursday.
But from tonight Wellington Mayor Andy Foster and councillors Fleur Fitzsimons and Teri O'Neill have organised for the sails of the Centre to be lit in the colours of the transgender flag.
"The conversation which is being had around the country has caused angst for the trans community in particular," Foster said.
"This is a vulnerable part of our community so we are trying to say to them that we're standing beside them and we support them."
Johnson said the group would have no issue with the move if it were individuals exercising their own freedom of speech.
"But this is the power of the council trying to intimidate us again.
"We will not be silenced. We will hold our event. We will continue to advance conversations about the law and how we can deal with the tensions between biological sex and gender identity in practice."
