Fear of White Ribbon Campaign Hijack by Homophobes

There are fears that the White Ribbon march in Auckland on Saturday will be hijacked by homophobic supporters of Destiny Church.

Destiny Church programme Manup is planning a huge presence on Saturday, which raises fears for takatāpui people.

‘We’ve asked White Ribbon Campaign leaders to ask marchers to keep their Manup tee shirts at home,’ says Pacific Panthers organiser Te Ao Pritchard.

‘The link is too strong between the overt homophobia of Destiny and the Manup role in the march. The organisers need to keep the march safe for all whānau and have a word with Destiny leaders, who need to spread the message over social media.’

‘Anything else but a Manup cover up means an unsafe environment for takatāpui folk.’

The group is keen to celebrate diverse families and to wear rainbow colours as well as their white ribbons.

We are White Ribbon Campaign organisers too, but we object to Destiny acting like they own the march, especially when it means the space will be hostile to takatāpui who have as much right to a violence free space as the next person.

About the Manup programme

The Manup programme offers important goals such as dealing with violence and healing. Our concern is that it serves as a back-door for recruitment to the Destiny Church. By the end of the programme, participants are seen to be ‘graduating’ on Manup Facebook pages, at Destiny Churches.

Manup is run by Destiny, which is not mentioned in Manup marketing, which we think is dishonest. Destiny have overt anti-takatāpui views - they cannot be a safe place for takatāpui. The church held an aggressive anti same-sex march in the 2000s that many likened to a Nazi Rally.

To want to eradicate takatāpui is an act of violence against takatāpui whānau. We suffer violence in the home, in the streets, and have high suicide rates.

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