New Zealand: a thousand march on Parliament in support of equal marriage

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a pink background.

An equal marriage bill which is to be heard for the first time today in parliament, has seen around a thousand people march through the city of Wellington in support.

Campaign for Marriage Equality arranged the march, which arrived at parliament at 1pm local time, with supporters holding placards saying “all love is equal”, and traffic being stopped to allow the column through.

Joseph Habgood, of LegaliseLove Wellington, one of the groups involved in organising the event, said:

”It’s a lot of work for campaigners and it’s still a struggle, but it’s a good time to show how far we’ve come [as a country]. It’s a show of happiness that this is actually happening,” reports Stuff.nz:

”It’s not something that I think should be controversial. It’s something to get behind … It’s a huge excitement.”

Last month, the bill selected for a vote in parliament was reported to have enough support from MPs to pass its first reading. The bill has seen support from several MPs ahead of the initial reading today.

Just a week ago, Judith Collins, The New Zealand Minister of Justice, who previously voted against the country’s civil union legislation, came out in favour of marriage equality, same-sex couples adopting and legal recognition of gender identity for trans people.