Same sex marriage in New Zealand

Quilter v Attorney-General

The case Quilter v Attorney-General had its origin in early 1996 when three female couples in long-term relationships were denied marriage licences by the Registrar-General because marriage under the common law was between one man and one woman. The case against the Government was taken to the High Court in May 1996. The applicants argued that the Marriage Act 1955 did not prohibit same-sex marriage and that under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the New Zealand Human Rights Act 1993, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was prohibited.

Both parties agreed that at the time the Marriage Act 1955 was written in the 1950s, marriage according to the common law was between one man and one woman, which explains why the Act did not specifically outlaw same-sex marriage. The applicants argued, however, that under the Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, and sections 6 (Interpretation consistent with Bill of Rights to be preferred) and 19 (Freedom from discrimination) of the Bill of Rights Act, New Zealand prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and, therefore, the applicants should be allowed to marry. The Government in response cited section 5 (Justified limitations) of the Bill of Right Act, which allows rights and freedoms in the Bill of Rights to "be subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society". In its decision, the High Court sided with the Government and common law and reiterated that marriage is between one man and one woman.

The High Court decision was appealed to the Court of Appeal (then New Zealand's highest court) in December 1997, which upheld the ruling.

Ms. Juliet Joslin et al. v. New Zealand

On 30 November 1998, two couples involved in Quilter v Attorney-General sued New Zealand before the United Nations Human Rights Committee claiming that the country's ban on same-sex marriage violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Committee rejected the case on 17 July 2002.

Civil unions

The Civil Union Act 2004, which came into force on 26 April 2005, legalised civil unions for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

2005 election

During the 2005 election, Prime Minister Helen Clark stated that she thought it was discriminatory to exclude same-sex couples from the Marriage Act, but said she would not push to change it.

Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill 2005

In 2005, United Future Member of Parliament (MP) Gordon Copeland sponsored the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill that would have amended the Marriage Act to define marriage as only between a man and a woman, and amend anti-discrimination protections in the Bill of Rights related to marital and family status so that the bill could stand. This was criticised by opponents, such as Attorney General Michael Cullen, as an overly "radical" attack on the Bill of Rights. The bill also would have prohibited the recognition of same-sex marriages from foreign countries as marriages in New Zealand. The bill received a Section 7 report for being inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, specifically freedom from discrimination relating to sexual orientation.

The bill had its first reading debate on 7 December 2005, and subsequently failed 47 votes in favour to 73 votes against.

Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013

On 14 May 2012, Labour Party MP Louisa Wall stated that she would introduce a private member's bill, the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, allowing same-sex couples to marry. The bill was submitted to the members' bill ballot on 30 May 2012. It was drawn from the ballot and passed its first and second readings on 29 August 2012 and 13 March 2013, respectively. The final reading passed on 17 April 2013 by 77 votes to 44. Supporters in the galleries greeted the bill's passage with applause and sang the traditional Maori love song "Pokarekare Ana", with many MPs joining in. Conservative lobby group Family First NZ called its passage "an arrogant act of cultural vandalism". The bill received royal assent from Governor-General Jerry Mateparae on 19 April and took effect on 19 August 2013.

The Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 amendment the Marriage Act 1955 to include a definition of marriage to explicitly allow same-sex marriages and to amend other legislation as necessary. The definition reads: "marriage means the union of 2 people, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity". Prior to the passage of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 there was no definition of marriage in the Marriage Act 1955 or other New Zealand legislation.

In December 2016, in his first press conference following taking office, Prime Minister Bill English announced he would vote in favour of same-sex marriage if another vote were to be held. He said "I'd probably vote differently now on the gay marriage issue. I don't think that gay marriage is a threat to anyone else's marriage." English voted against the Civil Union Act 2004 and the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013, and in favour of the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill 2005.

Marriage statistics

In the year after 19 August 2013 (when the law became operational), 926 same-sex marriages were registered in New Zealand, of which 520 were between female couples and 406 were between male couples. 532 marriages (57.5%) were between New Zealand citizens, and 237 marriages (25.6%) were between Australian citizens.

In the year to 30 September 2014, 3.9% of marriages registered in New Zealand were same-sex. 13.6% of marriages between overseas couples were same-sex marriages, compared to 2.5% of marriages between New Zealanders. The total number of same-sex marriages registered in New Zealand in 2014 was 486, compared to 19,639 opposite-sex marriages. The number of civil unions registered in 2014 fell dramatically, with 19 civil unions of same-sex couples being registered, as opposed to 121 in 2013.

In August 2016, Statistics New Zealand reported that 2,118 same-sex couples married in New Zealand in the three years following the legislation's entry into force. Approximately 970 of these marriages were between couples from abroad, mostly from Australia.

Public campaigns

The Legalise Love campaign was launched in August 2011 to promote legal marriage and adoption equality in New Zealand, and a protest was organised at the New Zealand Parliament Buildings in October that year. In December 2012, former Governor-General Catherine Tizard starred in an online video campaign organised by the Campaign for Marriage Equality supporting same-sex marriage, alongside New Zealand singers Anika Moa, Boh Runga and Hollie Smith, as well as Olympian Danyon Loader. The Human Rights Commission, which also supports same-sex marriage, said that if the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill is passed churches will not be forced to perform marriages between same-sex couples.

Public opposition to same-sex marriage has come from the Catholic Church in New Zealand, as well as from the Conservative Party and Family First. In June 2012, Family First leader Bob McCroskie announced the launch of a new website, Protect Marriage NZ, which outlines reasons for opposing same-sex marriage in New Zealand, which subsequently crashed on its first day after a large scale denial-of-service attack. A petition with 50,000 signatures expressing opposition to same-sex marriage was presented to Parliament in August 2012, in the lead-up to the first reading of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill. During the last fortnight before the third reading debate, several conservative Christian organisations held "prayer rallies" outside the New Zealand Beehive and in Auckland and Wellington against the enactment of same-sex marriage. Anika Moa, who came out as a lesbian in 2007, was planning a free concert in Christchurch for the night of the third reading of the bill to "celebrate a historic milestone for same-sex couples".

In March 2013, the youth wings of all eight parties represented in Parliament jointly announced their support for the bill, including the youth wing of the New Zealand First Party, whose MPs had said that they were going to vote against it.

After the third reading of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, Conservative Party Leader Colin Craig called the legalisation of same-sex marriage a "failure of democracy", and warned "the day of reckoning" would come. At the New Zealand general election, 2014, the Conservative Party failed to enter Parliament because it polled below New Zealand's Mixed Member Proportional electoral system's five percent threshold for party list-only representation. No other New Zealand political party has shown any inclination to revisit the issue; however, Family First continues to operate its "Protect Marriage" website.