Today’s face of the day accepted an invitation to visit and speak at a Destiny church event. As a result of him being brave enough to start a dialogue he has been rejected and condemned by many in the gay community.
[…] Speaking with Newstalk ZB this afternoon, Laverty said he’d received a lot of hurtful messages following last night’s conference.
“My community have been very hurtful today and it’s really sad. I’ve been called the worst traitor in the world […]
“I have to be honest, I walked in with a lot of fear when I arrived last night, but I have been more afraid of my own community after today.
“The hurtful things that have come from them are far more damaging than what Brian would have said to me.”
In contrast, Laverty said he’d had a lot of warm messages from the church congregation and other ministers.
[…] Laverty acknowledged the possibility that Tamaki’s public apology may be a PR stunt or politically motivated, but he said he felt there was a bigger picture to it.
“It’s about dialogue and the first steps to dialogue, and I think that’s what has been created from it,” he said.
“It’s up to the community to take him up on that offer or not, but I am going to start the dialogue and see what things we can put in place and how we can work forward in some way.
“I believe that is the right way for anybody that wants to see a change inside New Zealand churches.”
Laverty also acknowledged that he had a different view of Brian Tamaki.
“I certainly come from that era where the comments that were said by him were very hurtful. But you know, as he said last night in his speech – hindsight is a wonderful thing and would he do it differently? Absolutely.
“We all live and learn in this world. I have to take him at his word, and his words definitely came across as being sincere.”
A newspaper
