The Campaign against Civil Unions www.civil-unions.org

Media Release No 2 24 November 2004

Anti-Christian bias disqualifies Human Rights Review Tribunal Appointee

The Campaign Against the Civil Union and Relationship Bills has received another nasty communication from Ms Jacquie Grant a newly appointed member of the Human Rights Tribunal. Spelling and poor grammar aside, we appreciate that she will have a different view than we have on this proposed legislation, but we were not prepared for the anti-Christian invective contained in her email message.

Having already accused the Campaign members as “basically cowardly people” who have committed a “hate crime” and that she intends to take action against us “at every opportunity,” she goes on in her latest communication to demonstrate an extreme bias against Christians “no matter what denomination / branch of christianity etc … you are all the same.” She states that those (Christians) whose views on sexuality differ from hers “have rocks in their head” and implies that we are among this group of rock heads..

Ms Grant has been privileged to have been appointed to a quasi-judicial role on an important Tribunal. Hers is a statutory appointment. However, there is no way she should remain on the Tribunal. If any Christian group or individual was the subject of a Tribunal investigation she certainly could not remain on the panel. She has disqualified herself by exhibiting ill-will, bias and indulging in a level of vitriolic attack that raises serious questions about her whole appointment and those who appointed her.

Furthermore, she has disqualified herself by lambasting the organisers of a website as indulging in a “hate crime” and having gone on to make threats against them in her identified role as a Member of the Tribunal. She has breached the clear boundary of a Tribunal member’s jurisdiction. Her comments cannot be excused as merely personal as she identifies herself clearly as a member of the Tribunal to which she is accountable and whose reputation she has trashed by her unethical and inflammatory comments.

The correspondence from Ms Grant is set out below.

Spokesperson Campaign Against Civil Union and Relationship Bills Tel. (06)3444291

-----Original Message-----

Subject: letter for your site if you dare Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 11:20:37 + 1300 From: Jacquie Grant “ To: “

I will debate these issues with you anywhere anytime but I think you are basically cowardly people and I do not expect to have that opportunity soon. Rest assured you will be taken to task at every opportunity for hate crime.

Jacquie Grant MNZM Member Human Rights Commission Review Panel

------
From: Jacquie Grant
Sent: Wednesday, 24 November 2004 11:07 a.m.
To: Garnet Milne
Subject: Re: re civil unions

I think the Destiny rally says it all about the attitude of the Christian movement and it's intolerance.

I dont [sic] wish to get into a E Mail debate bit [sic] I will leave you with one thought; If as a lot of Christian people beleive [sic] Homosexuality and the Continium [sic] of sexuality was a matter of choice then can you really beleive [sic] given the treatement [sic] this group has recieved [sic] from society through the ages anyone would consiously [sic] make that choice then you have rocks in your head.

If you can accept that there is no choice and in (my case I can tell you I knew from my earliest thoughts I was somehow different) then you should be supporting us not trying to dsestroy [sic] us and that is what you do. I have known so many people through my years that have killed themselves because of the pressures from so called christian families it's no joke, and before you tell me that they are not christians let me tell you no matter what denomination / branch of christianity etc you are all the same.

Jacquie

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>