Ultra conservative Pentecostal pastor Brian Tamaki and members of his South Auckland Destiny Church clashed with the LGBTQ community and police as they blocked Auckland’s Rainbow Parade in protest. The group blocked the parade while performing a Haka and wearing shirts with the words ‘Man Up’ written on them. The church’s member groups ‘Man Up’ and ‘Legacy’ were also involved in a violent invasion of a children’s show earlier that day at a local library as part of the Pride events. About 30 show attendees, including young children and toddlers, had to be barricaded inside for their safety. Tamaki showed his support for the parade protest, posting on right-wing platform X:
“Our radical young people have had enough! Our Man Up men have had enough! Destiny Church has had enough. The debauchery in the Rainbow Parade has gone on for too long! Auckland has long been overrun with this woke, rainbow agenda. And no surprise, the boys in blue were there again… protecting their beloved rainbows.”
Tamaki also adopted the MAGA slogan writing, “Make NZ Great Again!”
