Locking lips for same-sex rights

HOT LIPS: Wiremu Wilson and Connor McLeod, left, and Pollyanna Besley and Ollie Ririnui share kisses at LUSH Cosmetics in Nelson during the Kiss and Tell nationwide. Photo: VIRGINIA WOOLF/FAIRFAX NZ

Wiremu Wilson and Connor McLeod walked into Lush Cosmetics in Nelson and kissed for the first time - all in the name of human rights.

The friends were among those taking part in a nationwide event on Saturday organised by a community organisation called LegaliseLove.

"It was amazing. I'm going to be thinking about it all day," laughed Connor, who is co-leader of the Nayland Alliance of Gays and Straights at Nayland College. "It's a great way to promote the cause."

Kiss and Tell invited people across the country to lock lips at 1pm in the name of marriage and adoption equality for same-sex couples in New Zealand.

Lush Cosmetics is supporting the campaign with a vibrant green bubble bath product called Freedom Foamer.

Gay, Nelson-based Labour list MP Maryan Street was at the event and said that equality for same-sex couples was a matter of human rights.

They should be entitled to the same treatment as heterosexuals when it came to marriage and adoption laws, she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News