A Wellington community police constable, who is making teens wear pink vests as punishment for tagging, has prompted alarm from the coordinator of LGBT youth organisation Out There, who describes the idea as "homophobic" and "appalling".
Constable Theo Gommans says the vests, emblazoned with the word 'TAGGER', will make taggers think about the consequences of their actions. He told Radio New Zealand today that he has already seen a reduction in tagging offences since he began touring schools with the pink vest.
"Wearing pink tagger vests draws on homophobic fears of wearing pink, and the whole concept of embarrassing young people rather than strengthening them is appalling." said Nathan Brown, National Coordinator of Out There, a youth development organisation for non-heterosexual and transgender youth.
"The homophobic part is what is said about the jackets by both taggers and the Police rather than the jackets themselves. They need to be careful presenting them in schools so that they are not playing on fears of not being seen as a real man.
"Homophobia is rampant in our schools as it is without another thing that exacerbates this prejudice. Words like 'homo' and 'faggot' are thrown around school grounds hundreds of times a day.
"Our communities have a lot of work to do in terms of providing a safe environment for non-heterosexual and transgender young people, and if it means not using pink vests then I am all for that," Brown concludes.
Wellington City Councillor Iona Pannett has also spoken out against the pink vests, likening them to techniques used in Nazi Germany where pink triangle badges were used to identify homosexuals in concentration camps.
A council spokesperson has however told Radio New Zealand that the pink vest programme is not about homophobia and there are no plans to withdraw the vests.
