I find all this so strange. Our Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer is openly gay and this week is the face of the government with Jacinda isolating at home with Covid. He has been acting Prime Minister in her absence overseas. He will be handilng down the budget in parliament tomorrow, probably the most important day of the year in parliament.
His sexuality is rarely a source of comment.
I found this on Wikipedia
In his maiden statement (given on 9 December 2008), Robertson alluded to his sexuality as a part, but not the whole, of his identity:
I am proud and comfortable with who I am. Being gay is part of who I am, just as is being a former diplomat, a fan of the mighty ... Wellington Lions, and a fan of New Zealand music and New Zealand literature. My political view is defined by my sexuality only inasmuch as it has given me an insight into how people can be marginalised and discriminated against, and how much I abhor that. I am lucky that I have largely grown up in a generation that is not fixated on issues such as sexual orientation. I am not—and neither should others be.
In a 2012 interview with Guyon Espiner, he hit out at the suggestion that being gay could prevent him from understanding the concerns of ordinary New Zealanders:
That’s one of the things that irritates me the most. How can you say that? That someone won’t understand New Zealanders because they’re gay. I understand all sorts of things about being a New Zealander. I understand what happens when your dad goes to prison. I understand what it’s like when the All Blacks lose. You know? I understand what it’s like when you’re trying to work out if you’ve got enough money to do [renovation] to the house? It’s bullshit.