I braved a cold Auckland day and a sprained ankle to go down to Queen Street this afternoon. I made it just in time to meet the anti-sexual violence march which was making its way along a Queen Street packed with men and women (but yes mainly men) of every colour bunched along its edges. Although most of the crowd weren’t amassed for the protest, most of them respected the protesters right to voice their opinions with only a few drunken jeers heard. Then there were half naked woman. I was freezing wrapped up in a winter coat and jacket but yet women of all shapes and sizes who made the decision to have their breasts on display (yes there was a lot of silicone out and about) in the biting winds. The drag queens got the biggest cheers and as they did I thought to myself how lucky we are in New Zealand that we can have this sort of public event (both the protest and the parade itself) and not have it (touch wood) erupt in violence.
Sometimes we forget we are a lucky to live in such a country.
2 comments:
out of interest, here's another eyewitness account from public address (http://publicaddress.net/system/topic,1298,hard_news_rain_on_his_parade.sm?p=64877#post64877):
Thought an eyewitness acct might be useful - I went up to where the protest assembled outside the comedy club. Maybe 100 people. Dunno what they were thinking but the sight of people lined up as far as they could see was bloody intimidating. They marched to a chorus of 'show us yer tits' the occasional round of boos, and a couple of lobbed drink containers. Heard one crazed woman in a tree seemingly supporting rape as freedom of expression, but also heard some geezers debating the nature of porn which was interesting. Got a very strong impression that most of the crowd were curious sightseers. And not as many as past years - well it is just down the road. Crow's input continues to be tawdry beyond belief. I struggle to see any appeal outside of the freak show factor, but then I've never understood those who enjoy getting their jollies in large groups. Still, kinda facinating to behold.
Linked to this post from here:
http://www.zooomr.com/photos/lgd/5637695/
Hope you don't mind... (?)
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