The
term “whānau” is translated into English meaning “family”, but in reality the
definition behind the idea is more complex. “It includes physical, emotional
and spiritual dimensions and is based on whakapapa. The ancestors’ traditions
and history is adapted from the contemporary world through whānau. The term
whānau encloses related family members as well as close friends.
In
connection to current events the concept of whānau can be associated with what
family means to people and in how far different family concepts are accepted in
the world.
The
legalization of same-sex marriage is on everyone’s lips these days because of
the fact that the US Supreme Court made the decision to legalize gay marriage
last Friday June 26th, 2015. Louisa Wall, a politician from the New
Zealand Labour Party, called the Supreme Court decision “monumental”. Social
networks like facebook, twitter or instagram are paved with posts about people
expressing their joy at the legalization of same-sex marriage using the hashtag
"lovewins".
Wall
was the one who submitted a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New Zealand
in May 2012. The Marriage Amendment Bill was passed into law after a voting in
Parliament on April 17th, 2013. New Zealand was the 13th country in the
world and the 1st in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize gay marriage. The
first weddings in New Zealand took place on August 19th, 2013 and thousands of
Australian same-sex couples took a chance to travel to New Zealand to get
married. After the decision on the legalization of gay marriage had been
announced, the supports of same-sex marriage sang the Māori love song
“Pokarekare Ana”, a song referred to as the unofficial national anthem of New
Zealand, to express their happiness towards the passing of the bill.
love
song "Pokarekare Ana" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgRVK2ge1ys)
The
Marriage Amendment Bill had many supporters of course. John Key, New Zealand’s
Prime Minister, was one of them.
http://www.wired.com/2013/02/apple-google-facebook-supreme-court-same-sex-marriage/
But
nevertheless there were and still are a lot of people opposed to gay marriage.
Jonathan Young, Member of the Parliament and part of the National Party, was
against the legalization of same-sex marriage because he was of the opinion
that the “tradition of marriage should be remained”. New Zealand First Leader
Winston Peters wanted a referendum because in a democracy the people should get
a chance to participate in deciding on the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Moreover, another opponent was Bob McCoskrie, the founder of a lobbying group
called Family First, a “non-partisan non-profit organization” that stands for
the protection of marriage and family in New Zealand. The organization is
strictly against gay marriage and says only a marriage between a man and a
woman is a “real” marriage.
There
is one place on earth where people that although they have citizenship in New
Zealand nonetheless cannot marry a person with the same sex. That is on the
Cook Islands.
Sources:
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