Competition offends married Rotorua couple

Rotorua married couple Yvonne (left) and Karen Harvey-Griggs. Photo / File

A Rotorua same-sex married couple are "disgusted" with a radio station competition that will marry two heterosexual male friends for Rugby World Cup tickets.

The Edge is running the Love You Man competition which will send two friends to the United Kingdom next year to watch the All Blacks defend their World Cup title. Their website states "We've done stranger weddings, naked weddings, same sex weddings, but this is the first one that we know will end in divorce". There have been 180 entries so far.

Locals Karen and Yvonne Harvey-Griggs said they couldn't believe this competition was going ahead. The women were one of the first couples in the country to be legally married, having exchanged vows on the shores of Lake Rotorua in Ngongotaha early morning of August 19 last year.

They celebrated their first wedding anniversary yesterday and say, for them, marriage has been "awesome" and has made their relationship stronger. The pair help run Rotorua Community Kai which provides a free meal every Thursday night at Linton Park.

"When I saw the competition, I thought, 'Oh my God' . . . what Yvonne said when she first heard, you couldn't possibly print," Mrs Harvey-Griggs said.

"I find it wrong on every possible level. It is offensive and it demeans every married person. We fought so hard to have the same right and they make a parody of it."

The Edge radio host Dom Harvey said in a media release that the prize on offer was a once in a lifetime trip.

"So in return we need the ultimate commitment, and there is no commitment better than marriage. Bromance. It is a thing and we want to celebrate it," he said.

Programme director Leon Wratt said they had a positive response from their listeners.

"I am confident, Love You Man will add to The Edge's reputation of pushing the boundaries. We're not out to offend, just to make entertaining radio."

But Mrs Harvey-Griggs wonders how the marriage would be officiated. She said they had to fill out paperwork to prove they were genuine and their celebrant had to believe that they were marrying for the right intentions and purposes.

"I want to know who is stupid enough to marry them? If anyone did, I would call for them to be deregistered," she said.

"Marriage is an act of law, and we had to satisfy that process - it's not like going to the bank and getting a loan together. Since we've been married there is now a singleness to us. My family and [Yvonne's] family look at us as a single entity. It's united everybody and they know one doesn't go without the other.

"We've been able to say through marriage, 'I've chosen you and you're my future and that's it for me'," Mrs Harvey-Griggs said.

According to the Department of Internal Affairs, since changes to the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act were made in August last year, 926 same sex couples were married.

This included 532 New Zealand couples. Nearly 400 overseas couples have come to New Zealand to get married.