Bigoted church leader flees his own anti-trans protest

Brian Tamaki — the self-appointed “bishop” of his own church, Destiny Church in New Zealand — fled an anti-transgender protest he organized in the southern city of Christchurch on Monday after counter-protesters showed up in force.

Tamaki is currently “on tour” through New Zealand and spreading a message of hate in a campaign to “Make NZ, NZ Again!” He called on supporters to turn up at the Te Tahi Youth Centre, which provides trans and non-binary people access to gender-affirming care.

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The church threatened the town to get it to cancel a drag event and followed through with the vandalism.

Announcing the “pop-up protest,” Tamaki claimed on social media that puberty blockers cause “irreversible destruction… to hundreds of Kiwi kids and teenagers.” Puberty blockers have been used safely for decades to treat certain cancers and other conditions without any permanent side effects.

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Live footage from today's pop-up protest…
including my speech…
and some ugly behaviour from the opposition… pic.twitter.com/GzNutEXn14

— Brian Tamaki (@BrianTamakiNZ) May 6, 2024

Tamaki also called out the founder of the center who “unbelievably [sic] has also been appointed the lead investigator in the review of blockers suitability in NZ by the Govt… What a joke. We all know the outcome they want in this corrupt setup.”

Supporters at the midday hate rally waved the New Zealand flag and held signs reading “Jesus is Lord,” and other signs alleging gender-affirming puberty blockers amount to “child abuse.”

Not long after they gathered, however, Tamaki and his small army of black-clad adherents were overwhelmed by counter-protesters.

Trans advocates were quick to organize after Tamaki called out his troops, calling for “community mobilization” and LGBTQ+ supporters to “defend access to gender-affirming care.”

Destiny Church are organising a protest outside Ōtautahi's youth health service because it's a safe place for trans rangatahi to access healthcare. Community are calling on us to show up, keep our rangatahi safe, and show Brian Tamaki that his hatred has no home here. pic.twitter.com/HRGiNnu1Hv

— 👩🏻‍🎤🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇸 (@antidamage) May 5, 2024

“Destiny Church are organizing a protest outside Ōtautahi’s youth health service because it’s a safe place for trans rangatahi [a Māori word for “youth”] to access healthcare. Community are calling on us to show up, keep our rangatahi safe, and show Brian Tamaki that his hatred has no home here,” the X user @antidamage wrote in a post advertising the counterprotest.

The pro-trans demonstrators chanted in support of Māori rangitahi, the indigenous gender or sexually diverse people native to the island nation. Signs read “Protect trans youth” and “Rainbow rangitahi belong.”

There were face-to-face verbal altercations between the two groups, according to the New Zealand Herald. Police watched from a distance in case violence broke out.

Before it did, Tamaki fled the scene by car. A teddy bear was thrown at his vehicle “amidst angry scenes,” the Herald reported.

Following the rally, a trans supporter announced on social, “Brian Tamaki has left. Amazing turnout at short notice on a Monday, support for LGBTQ+ youth is strong in Ōtautahi (Christchurch).”

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