Bob McCoskrie

Colin Craig opposed marriage equality, along with other idiots like Bob McCoskrie ont he basis that the kids were at risk, and that their world view that a mother and a father was the only valid family unit,

Well bad news for Colin and Bob…the kids are doing fine.

Children of same-sex parents are doing as well or better than the rest of the population on several key health indicators, according to initial findings of the world’s largest study of such children.

The Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families collected data on 500 children nationally, up to the age of 17. Of the 315 gay, lesbian and bisexual parents who completed the globally recognised child health questionnaire, 80 per cent were women.

An interim report found there was no statistical difference between children of same-sex couples and the rest of the population on indicators including self-esteem, emotional behaviour and the amount of time spent with parents.  Read more »

Family First has been de-registered as a charity by the Charities Commission.

Family First national director Bob McCoskrie says the group has received notification from the Charities Commission that it will be deregistered.

“The Commission argues that Family First’s efforts to represent the voice of 80 per cent-plus of families on the anti-smacking law or half of New Zealanders on attempts to redefine marriage, for example, have no ‘public benefit’, and that it is in the ‘public interest’ for Family First to be deregistered,” Mr McCoskrie says.

Political advocacy, including advocacy for a law change, is not regarded as charitable under the Charities Act, according to the Charities Commission website.  Read more »

In the UK teachers are being told to modify their sex education lessons to explain to pupils that not all porn is bad. I can certainly see a massive campaign from Family First and Bob McCoskrie.

Teachers should be aware that “not all pornography is bad” when taking sex education classes, according to guidance made available to schools.

A publication released by a group of health and children’s charities says that teachers should bear in mind that pornography is “hugely diverse”.

Pupils as young as 11 should be taught the dangers of “sexting” and five-year-olds should know how airbrushing in the media creates unrealistic body image expectations, it says.  Read more »

As MPs are set to debate the final reading of the Marriage Equality Bill in parliament tonight Family First has sent out a bullying letter to all MPs giving them details of the impact their vote could have on their chances of re-election.

Family First managed to get only 15,000 pledges to vote against MPs if they supported the bill. One MP with one of the higher number of pledges against him (290) will be quaking in his boots, though he has a majority of over 15,000, so unless Family First managed to canvass just his electorate I think he is pretty safe.

If anything the family First organised pledge proves that bugger all (excuse the pun) people give a flying f*ck about this bill except those fundy, hand clappers, haters.  Read more »

Matt McCarten writes in the Herald on Sunday about marriage equality:

Inflicting marriage on gay couples is a foregone conclusion in this country and in other civilised secular countries.

Heh, everyone deserves a mother in law.

In the United States, 63 per cent of people now support same-sex marriages. Even the Mormon Church, which has funded large anti-gay marriage campaigns, has quietly given up its fight.

New Zealanders have always been more liberal than people in other countries. So it was a shock that two recent polls showed support for marriage equality was decreasing.

Supporters of MP Louisa Wall’s campaign for a law change blame the latest numbers on a late misinformation campaign organised by churches.

It won’t matter, it’s a done deal.  Read more »

The Onion is brilliant yet again. Kim Jong-un has declared his support for gay marriage, telling everyone that he is not a monster:

As the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on the constitutionality of banning same-sex marriage, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un told reporters that, considering he’s not a completely awful human being, he unequivocally believes that gay people should be able to marry.  Read more »

It is simple and can be summarised in one line. Bob McCoskrie was way too complicated when he outlined Family Forst’s support for polygamy.

This is it.

“Anyone stupid enough to want more than one mother in law deserves all they can get.”  Read more »

If you’re going to pick a fight with people, at least have the balls to stand behind your own words

via WIkipedia

Entertainer Lynda Topp has married her partner Donna Luxton at their home in Staveley, in the foothills of the Southern Alps.

And yes, Topp is adamant “marriage” is the correct word to describe their union.

In a fiery statement issued this week, Topp blasted an anti-gay marriage group for trying to hijack her ceremony.

Family First leader Bob McCoskrie tried to use Topp’s ceremony to make a point for his cause. In his blog on March 1, with links to Protect Marriage NZ, McCoskrie congratulated Topp and Luxton for choosing a civil union.

He said by doing so they showed there was no need to legalise gay marriage.

Read more »

The other day Kevin Hague had a guest post here, then yesterday Family First started peddling their latest lies about “gay marriage being rammed through parliament” in haste.

Their own pollster, David Farrar, pointed out the fallacy of their approach but it didn’t deter them from bombarding editors and journalists with press releases yesterday continue to push the lie….I say lie, because to do it once could have been a mistake but to continue to push it just makes it deliberate…and so it is a lie.

Kevin Hague then blogged pointing out their lies. It is a classic fisking:

I guess Family First is in a hard position. They really don’t want Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill to succeed but they’re faced with a situation where most New Zealanders support it, where it passed its First Reading with an emphatic majority, and where the Select Committee that heard submissions has given the Bill a ringing endorsement.

What makes it harder still for them is that the main argument they have previously used – scaremongering about restriction of religious freedom – has been nullified by the Select Committee’s unanimously agreed changes to the Bill which put it beyond doubt that churches will not be required to do or say anything different to what they do now.

So, it’s no surprise to see Family First stooping to desperate and irresponsible measures and amongst these have been a number of own goals.  Read more »

Bob McCoskrie and other who oppose marriage equality always run out the “but, but, but….gay marriage will lead to polygamy” line. My smart arsed line is always the same…so what…if you support families then surely you support really BIG families…and any bloke who wants more than one mother in law is doing us all a favour.

However, jokes aside…let’s look at history…Craig Young has, at GayNZ:

Family First is once more ruminating hypocritically about the alleged “relationship” between same-sex monogamous marriage and polygamy. It’s time someone told Mr McCoskrie that some of us are aware of Christianity’s own polygamist past.

It goes all the way back to the sixteenth century and Martin Luther, the very founder of Protestant Christianity himself- and an advocate of polygamy. What?!! Yes, that is correct. Luther believed that polygamous marriages were preferable to extramarital sex (or ‘fornication’) or adultery. Indeed, Luther and Phillip Melancthon, another early Lutheran theologian and pivotal figure, advocated that Phillip, Landgrave of Hesse (a German principality within the Holy Roman Empire) covertly and bigamously marry two women- Christine of Saxony, an invalid and alcoholic, and one of her ladies-in-waiting, Margarethe van der Saale. However, it doesn’t end there. Instead of divorcing Catherine of Aragon, his first wife, Melanchthon also advised future serial monogamist Henry VIII to bigamously marry Anne Boleyn. Henry didn’t take his advice, divorced Catherine instead and monogamously remarried Anne, future mother of Elizabeth I of England.  Read more »