A t-shirt advertising a British metal group's album has been banned in New Zealand.
Chief censor Bill Hastings says it is the most offensive piece of clothing he has ever seen, "because it fuses religion with the most aggressive, misogynistic word in the English language, with sexual activity depicted on the front that implies even celibate women can not resist sex".
The top has been deemed 'injurious to the public good' and capable of inciting religious hatred.
"It's illegal to possess it, it's illegal to deal with it in any way. Sell it, rent it, hire it, give it," says Mr Hastings.
The t-shirt advertises an album by extreme British metal group, Cradle of Filth. In Australia, a 16-year-old was arrested and charged with offensive behaviour for wearing it.
Here, a member of the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards brought it to the chief censor's attention.
"The language used is totally unacceptable, and it's always been regarded as obscene and whenever that word is used and directed at the founder of a belief system it's sure to cause grave offence," says David Lane.
But highly offensive language by itself is not enough to have a publication banned. In this case, it is the sexually explicit imagery on the front of the t-shirt combined with those words which has made it illegal.
Mr Hastings says while there is a chance to appeal the decision, so far no one has.
3 News
source: newshub archive
