Enough is Enough t-shirt

Destiny Church held an 'Enough is Enough' protest march to Parliament, Wellington on 23 August 2004 against the lowering of the drinking age, the decriminalisation of sex work, and the Civil Union Bill which gave same-sex couples the same legal rights as married couples. Protestors believed that same-sex relationships undermined traditional marriage and families. A haka was composed for the occasion, performed by the church's haka party when the marchers arrived at Parliament grounds. It was estimated that about 6000 to 7500 people marched (Lineham 2013, 15).

This particular t-shirt was worn by David Graham (Taranaki, Waikato) who was part of the organising crew for the march in Wellington (he organised the marshals, parking for attendees, and the stage for speeches).

During his time at the church (2003-2013), Graham began to see more and more homophobic rhetoric manifest in the preaching from the pulpit. ‘Many of us never saw ourselves as homophobic - we loved everyone because God first loved us. We wanted to see traditional family values upheld, because we all wanted the best for our own families, as long as love was at the centre of that whānau. I later come to realise that same sex families who also had love at the centre of their whānau only ever wanted the best for their kids as well.’

Destiny church members had LGBTQI+ members in their own whānau and circle of friends: ‘we had no idea that it would soon become about them and us’. ‘We showed our hand with a pre run up protest in Auckland, so when we marched to Parliament those in opposition to our stand were given a clear line of attack. We did ourselves no favours and were easily labelled as Nazis and I could see exactly why.’

The massed wearing of the black t-shirts was important in delivering the branding and messaging created by Destiny Church for the march. Black can be seen as a colour of defiance, and Tamaki later noted that black represented 'a dark day in the political history of the nation' (Tamaki 2006, 261). The strong messaging seen on the t-shirt - 'Enough is enough' and 'Stand up for the next generation' - gave marchers a clear sense of purpose and identity. However, it was controversial. The sea of black t-shirts, with men marching at the front, in rows with fists punching the air chanting "enough is enough" created a charged atmosphere which was considered intimidating by many observers, particularly those from LGBTQI+ communities. Labour MP Georgina Beyer likened the marchers to Nazis, saying at the time, "I feel like I’m at a Nuremburg rally" (Lineham 2013, 18).

This perception was not the intention of Destiny Church marchers, but they quickly lost control over the narrative once the media picked up on negative connotations of the massed wearing of black. Graham recalls: ‘Even when we sang the National Anthem, holding one hand over our heart with one hand in the air, it was taken out of context and made to look like a Nazi salute. I could see how the Nazi label was so easily made to stick to us. Many of the boys in the kapa haka team were shocked and hit hard by the Nazi label, and when compounded by close whānau and friends who also believed it, some of the boys couldn't handle the persecution and just left church, so that was the real sad part for me.’

The Civil Union Bill was passed by Parliament in December 2004.

References:

Personal communication between David Graham and Te Papa curator Stephanie Gibson, 7 October 2022.

Lineham, P. (2013). Destiny: The life and times of a self-made apostle. Auckland: Penguin Books.

Tamaki, B. (2006). More than meets the eye. Auckland: Destiny Church.