Drawing the line: issues of boundary and the homosexual law reform bill campaign in New Zealand (Aotearoa), 1985-86.
The 1985-86 Homosexual Law Reform Bill campaign in Aotearoa (New Zealand) was about 'drawing the line' in several important ways. This paper examines issues of boundary as they arise in the way in which the State contains lesbian and gay populations and hence its response to the pro-Bill movement, the struggle of competing groups over the meaning and progress of the Bill, and some of the difficulties of coalition politics. Rituals, symbols and discourses used throughout the campaign by all sides set the scene for the movement of the legislation through Parliament and the eventual outcome. Issues of power, particularly those concerned with gender, ethnicity, and class, crucially influenced the campaign both inside and outside the lesbian and gay movement. Some reasons why the eventual victory for pro-Bill groups was only partial are suggested.
Atmore
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Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
D002961:Civil Rights; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D007603:Jurisprudence; D008119:Lobbying; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D011057:Politics; D011639:Public Opinion