5.00PM: A prominent transgender woman described by homophobic preacher Brian Tamaki as "abhorant and unnatural" is sceptical that the Destiny Church leader has had a genuine change in attitude to glbt people.
Amongst his many rants against the influence of homosexuals in society, Brian Tamaki led thousands of angry black-shirted followers in marches against Civil Unions in 2004 and obsessed against homosexuality, and lesbians in particular, in a DVD released in the lead-up to the last general election.
However, in a documentary to be screened on TV3 this Thursday night, Tamaki is reported as having a new openness to the gay community - and now even talks to airline stewards.
Georgina Beyer, the ground-breaking transgender politician who famously went head to head with Tamaki on TV and with his hyped up followers on the steps of Parliament, says she welcomes Tamaki's change of heart, if it is genuine. "I'm glad he has had an epiphany and is seeing the light," she says, but she wonders if Tamaki will follow through on his newly stated position. "For instance, does he now believe that homosexuality is not a bad thing? Is he going to apologise to glbt people for his hateful opposition to the Civil Unions legislation? We'll watch this space I guess," Beyer said this afternoon.
Noting that Tamaki has claimed to have exorcised the "homosexual spirit" from his parishioners, and that his church has run a programme to turn people away from homosexuality, Bayer wonders what he will now say to those people.
