The National Party's New Plymouth MP who told the Taranaki Daily News that he strongly objected to homosexuality being seen as a "normal alternative" now claims that his comment was "taken out of context".
Jonathan Young told the newspaper about an 'ex-lesbian' who discovered "some things happened to her in her childhood" which "caused her to become homosexual", leading the former Church Minister to conclude: "One of the things I do strongly object to in terms of the people who have made this choice is the presentation of it as a normal alternative."
The story, printed in the newspaper last month, angered several GayNZ.com readers who contacted us, including Labour MP Charles Chauvel, who warned that Young's views were "fairly mainstream in the National Party".
At the time we reported the comments, Young could not be contacted by GayNZ.com.
The NZ Herald has now questioned him on the remarks – with Young responding that they were "taken out of context".
"I'm really not interested in telling people how to organise their lives and I don't intend to start," he elaborated.
The NZ Herald's story is here (Jonathan Young features halfway down the page).
