March against violence must mean marching against hate

Pro-takatāpui marchers in today’s Auckland hikoi are calling out the Manup programme for wanting to eliminate' takatāpui people from their homes.

Activists have released a Facebook post by a prominent Manup facilitator from the Bay of Plenty who refers to takatāpui people as ‘a perversion’ that we must ‘eradicate from our homes and our lives.’ The facilitator is shown 'graduating' Manup students at local Destiny Churches.

‘We object to the dominant role of a church with a hateful agenda in a march against violence. The march needs to be peaceful and inclusive,’ says Pacific Panthers organiser Te Ao Pritchard.’

‘We’ll be there but we are marching for all whānau, not just straight ones.’

We request that the Destiny marchers tone down their presence. We also call on government funded institutions like schools and wānanga to reject requests by Manup to run programmes at their premises.

A Manup poster at a polytech or school tells takatāpui people that they’re not welcome here. We think that they should find another venue.

About the Facebook post

A Facebook post by a prominent Manup programme leader in the Bay of Plenty believes the homophobic underbelly of the programme:

“… the first thing that comes to mind is sexual perversion. As much as this is a form of perversion, There are many other forms of perversion out there. Perversion is the twisting of the truth … it is up to us to identify it and to eradicate it from our home and our lives to give tamariki and mokopuna a better chance…then we can start making those necessary changes that will ultimately eliminate from the home”

A focus on perversion is a recurring theme on pages of Manup supporters and 'graduates.'

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