LGBT rights in New Zealand
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in New Zealand are among the most progressive in the world. The protection of LGBT rights is advanced, relative to other countries in Oceania, and is one of the most liberal in the world, with the country being the first in the region and thirteenth in the world to enact same-sex marriage.
Throughout the late 20th century, the rights of the LGBT community received more awareness and male same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in 1986, with an age of consent of 16, equal to heterosexual intercourse. After recognising gender-neutral civil union since 2004, New Zealand legalised both same-sex marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples in 2013. Discrimination regarding sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression has been banned since 1993. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people have been allowed to serve openly in the military since 1993. Opinion polls have found that a majority of New Zealanders support same-sex marriage.
Same-sex relationships and activities (Māori: takatāpui) were largely accepted amongst pre-colonial Māori society. There were no legal or social punishments for engaging in same-sex sexual activity. Male homosexual intercourse was first criminalised when New Zealand became part of the British Empire in 1840 and adopted British law making "buggery" a crime with a maximum sentence of death.[5] (In practice, New Zealand used the death penalty only for offences of murder and once for treason before abolishment in 1961). In 1861, Britain replaced the death penalty for buggery with life imprisonment. New Zealand enacted similar legislation six years later. In 1893, the law in New Zealand was broadened to outlaw any sexual activity between men. Penalties included life imprisonment, hard labour and flogging Sex between women has never been criminalised in New Zealand.
The Dorian Society (1962–88) was the first New Zealand organisation for homosexual men. The British Homosexual Law Reform Society provided legal assistance to the society. It drafted a petition calling for the decriminalisation of homosexual acts. Signed by 75 prominent citizens, a petition was presented to (and rejected by) Parliament in 1968
In 1972, academic Ngahuia Te Awekotuku was denied a visitors permit to the United States on the grounds that she was a homosexual. Publicity around the incident was a catalyst in the formation of gay liberation groups in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland. The 1970s saw the growth of the modern feminist and gay movements in New Zealand.