Appointment of gay chief justice 'goes against Tonga's social and moral values'

A petition to oust Tonga's gay chief justice from his post has now extended beyond just lawyers.

A person convicted of sodomy in Tonga can be sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment.

RNZ Pacific previously obtained a petition dated 26 August which is understood to have come from a group of lawyers. It said Chief Justice Malcolm Bishop's "lifestyle conflicts with the law of Tonga".

RNZ's Tonga correspondent Kalafi Moala said concern had moved to the general public.

"The legal aspect is another issue altogether but it's the moral, social issue, that's the big one," Moala said.

"It's something unacceptable in Tongan society…it goes against the face of Tonga's social and moral values".

Moala said a definite date to present the petition to the King had not been set and there had been no response from the palace office.

Laws across the Pacific

Homosexuality is also illegal in Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu and Solomon Islands.

Cook Islands was the latest nation in the region to decriminalise homosexuality in 2023, in 2014 it was decriminalised in Palau and Fiji did the same in 2010.

Cook Islands LGBTQ+ organisation Te Tiare Association president Tatryanna Utanga said Tonga was in an "unfortunate situation" but the decision rests with the higher authorities in the country.

"We hope that they make the best decision that's not discriminative or prejudice of the chief justice."

Utanga said there was no specific area where discrimination exists in Tonga.

"I do believe that it happens right at the bottom in the home, among friends, among families, and also in the hierarchy systems like institutional systems at work and in positions of power."

However, she said there is a general acceptance of those in rainbow communities as long as they operate within Pacific cultural values.

Utanga said the values include respecting elders and supporting each other.

"The LGBT community here in Cook Islands live by those cultural values, so there's no reason why our community can't stand behind us when we're asking them to support us to change laws."

Utanga said she expects laws criminalising homosexuality in the Pacific will continue to be changed but at different speeds.

"At the same time, we are also facing new challenges, cell phones and technology are one of the modalities that help us push our advocacy but can also sometimes work against us."

Judge from Wales

Moala also said there were questions as to why a judge from Wales was picked for the role while there are qualified judges in Tonga and in the Pacific.

He said it aligns with the tradition in Tonga where a "white person" is appointed chief justice who will not be swayed by the Kingdoms traditions and morals.

But he said this had changed in the last three to four years where there had been some local supreme court judges appointed.

Moala said most chief justices come from New Zealand and Australia.

"They have gone beyond New Zealand, a country with a lot of white judges, Australia, gone on to Europe and gone all the way to Wales to find somebody there."

He said "the talk" is the chief justice was recommended by a Scotsman who is an advisor to the King and also used to be a Supreme Court judge.