They say gay Gore gay no more

Gore, once satirised as the gay capital of New Zealand, has now been labelled one of the least homosexual towns in New Zealand.

In 1999, television personality Mickey Havoc named the town New Zealand's gay capital – and the mayor of the time, Mary Ogg, was quoted in newspapers saying she wouldn't let them back and they would be run out of town if they ever returned.

However, The Sunday Star Times yesterday reported that statistics New Zealand figures showed Gore was one of the least homosexual towns in New Zealand with just three gay couples residing in the area.

Gore Mayor Tracy Hicks told The Southland Times yesterday the community was "inclusive, receptive and accepting" of all people regardless of their sexuality.

However, he said the title "Gay Gore" was not applicable to the town. "It's a label that we were given a number of years ago that I don't believe is applicable and is irrelevant." The township now joins the Hawke's Bay and Kaikoura as one of New Zealand's least gay areas.

Auckland had 1308 couples followed by Wellington with 696 and Christchurch with 579.

Civil Union celebrant Peter Crake said there were more than three same-sex couples in the Gore-Mataura area but they were "conservatively gay" and not "out there".

He believed writing a report about the number of gays in Gore was invasive. The gay couples in the community were very private people, he said.

"They're just doing their own thing and minding their own business."

Mr Crake said he had not performed a civil union for any same-sex couples in the area, but had received a few inquiries.

"I'm there to provide a service if they want it."

The numbers of gay men living together rose slightly from the 2001 census to reach 0.3 percent in 2006, while the number of lesbians cohabiting made up 0.4 percent of all couples living together.

Numerically this means there were 3516 female couples and 2655 male couples living together in 2006, compared with 867,696 couples of the opposite sex.