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OK, I'm Pat McIntosh. I'm part of, um, vinyl and proud with my partner and lovely wife, Val Little. And, um, I'm standing on the main road or street of at the yearly labour weekend A rainbow in the village festival that's been going for three years now. And, um, how did it start? It started with a dance party, uh, way back four years ago. And, uh, we were aware [00:00:30] that Georgina buyer was struggling with health issues, and, um, it wasn't looking good, so we decided to just raise some money for Georgie to do whatever Georgie wanted to do with it. So she came along to, um the first, uh, the first dance party we call it. Did we call it a rainbow? I think we did. We did. We did. So we called it a rainbow in the village, and we had this amazing night of of raising funds and having this great dance, and it was like I think it was probably about half past one after we'd packed up, or [00:01:00] it might have been the next morning, but after over a drink, we thought we actually need to do something with this idea and turn it into a rainbow festival. So we basically got on book the hall for the next three years, and, um and, um yeah, and decided if we're going to do this, we have to commit to losing our labour weekends. So we both agreed, and we got a team of people, lovely people around us, and and thus a rainbow in the village was formed into the Pride Festival. So, Val, what is [00:01:30] the Pride festival now? Now it's It's kind of like a growing beast. It's, um so it's three years old. The the festival part of it, um, it's quite naughty. Yeah. I mean, we to be honest, we don't get permission to do most of it. Um, we've had some interesting conversations with the local council just over the last week. They've been amazing. Actually, they could close us down because we don't follow any rules. Um, but from going forward, [00:02:00] So yeah, so now it's, um you know, we started the the first one was the parade, and we we've coined it. We've claimed it as the world's shortest pride parade, which is basically just across the crossing. Yeah, the pedestrian crossing, which is painted every year by some Banksy artists in the village. We wake up and there it is. There's a there's a rainbow crossing and it just sort of pops up and we go. Gosh, that looks good But I think they've outdone [00:02:30] themselves this year because it's looking absolutely stunning. And and have you done research? And have you found that this is the shortest pride parade in the world? There's one other in the states that didn't email me back when I asked them to give them the length of their one. But after doing a bit of research, it seemed that our one is, you know, we tried for his book of records on the first attempt, but, um, they said, they say there's no category or something for things like that for length. I don't know. Um, So anyway, we we've claimed it as the [00:03:00] unofficial world's shortest, and nobody's, you know, come back to us or push back about it. So we we're owning that. So every year we start, they assemble down at Camp Park, Uh, we call the war up for the parade down the parade. Then they come down on Beach Street with Taco drummers. And then we have a ribbon and we cut it and all the kids at the front, and everyone runs across well, walks across the crossing. And that's the official parade. Yeah, and it's just a buzz. So buzzy. So yeah, [00:03:30] And so from that we've we've, you know, added quite a few other events. So there's always a dance party. We had the world's smallest film festival last year. We did one film, so we're sort of into that sort of style of we're sort of the the earliest ever. Well, we think we're the earliest dance party Rainbow Dance Party, because it's finishing at 10 45 tonight due to noise control in the village. So you know, But it's four hours, but it's, you know, it does finish early, but, you know, things rock a bit different in the village, don't they? So but no, we we've [00:04:00] had big buy in this year from the school. They were the first, uh, inside out has come. They came up this week, and, uh, they told me that, uh, it was the first primary school in New Zealand to invite inside out. So that happened this week. So We're pretty chuffed about that. And and the kids have been tie dying T shirts and it's just like, uh, I don't know, There's just a real buzz so that, you know, the whole village has picked up on it. So we've got a quiz night happening on Sunday night. [00:04:30] Um, and the proceeds from that are going to go to school for their rainbow resources. So they're going to buy books for their library. Um, training, I guess. For the teachers support for students that might need it. Yes. The other one is going to youth services. Uh, the project youth, um, side of it. And they got all the funds last year that we raised this year. We decided to split it and bring some back into back into the primary school into, But they'll be getting all the rest of the funds from the dance tonight [00:05:00] and the other events that we're running. So Yeah. So there's 10 events all together. Yeah. Yeah. So it's sort of grown into this beast day, and we wanted it to be as inclusive and family friendly and everything. So we've got picnics and a swim. What else have we got the rain through the park. Um, we've got a rainbow launch of a book by Kate Torrance, Rainbow Rider that that's been happening here in the village Sunday Exclusive exclusive thing [00:05:30] I was looking for exclusive, so, yeah, we've got some lovely stuff, and it just everyone gets behind it, so yeah, and it's a safe place because you've the research has just come out. You say, counting ourselves? Yeah, has a very high incidence of youth suicide. Yeah, Um, there was a spate a few years ago. Um, and yeah, it's Yeah, it's a very mixed kind of community. So we're really aware that [00:06:00] there are a lot of young people who don't feel safe or feel ok about being themselves. So, you know, this is a real nod to to safety, inclusion, belonging. Yeah, And we we saw it on the faces of the, uh, project youth that came down. They actually lead our parade last year, and and just to be in a real inclusive environment, and you could see them just shining. And we actually had someone come out in our very first festival way after they were performing, and they actually came out to the group. So, [00:06:30] you know, it was a big, big move by him. And, um yeah, and it just feels like a really safe environment for Labour weekend for people to come to and see that, um, you know that I don't know What's the word? There's love, It's not Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We all can live together and love each other and, uh, and embrace diversity. And can you talk about some of the participants like the the the numbers of people that come and where they're coming from? Well, we, uh, the parade's probably got about 300 [00:07:00] people that that we've got that comes along to it. Um, and the dance party will have about 100 and 60 70 people that comes to that. Um, and then the Rainbow Picnic. We probably had about 50 60 people there last year. So it's it's building. It's sort of word of mouth. It's but but we want to keep it sort of boutique and not have AAA commercial huge commercial, um, influence on this. So, um and people are coming from I mean, we've got people that come down from Auckland for it. Wellington, of course, we're trying [00:07:30] to get people to come up on the trains, but there's never trains on Labour Weekend, but, you know, come up from for a day or a couple of days. Come and stay camp or get yourself a book of batch. So word's getting around a people from Palmerston North for coming down from the rainbow community up there. So you know, it's it's it's got a real vibe. Nice vibe. And what about, um, sponsorship is Are there businesses sponsoring you? We've got this year for the first time, we had the community trust Come on board and give us money. So basically, you help us with the hall hire. So [00:08:00] that's that's sort of covered that So that's great. So that means all funds from that the dance and the weekend you're having the hall, uh, raised. Go back to youth services, which is cool. Um, the business is get on board with donating prices for the night. Um, we've had great response from them. Um, and other than that, there's no commercial. Uh, well, we we donate our services as well. I'm proud. And we DJ DJ the dance for free. And I think I mean, that's Our point of difference is that we're not a big sort of, you know, we [00:08:30] we don't have sponsorship. We don't. It's not a corporate kind of institution, you know, lead thing. It's just a village pride festival, basically, right at the start, it was sort of a, um that's how we wanted to run it. So And we had a great group, you know, of of people in the village that are on board doing this. So if you want to run through Daniel Daniel So she runs the parade. She's the most unflappable person I think I've ever met. So she herds cats, [00:09:00] um, literally down the parade. And, um, yeah, so she's amazing. Chrissie, you've probably seen heaps of, um, yarn bombing around the the rainbow yarn bombing. That's wonderful, Chrissy. She makes, um, rainbow hats. She knits everything. She's Yeah, she did a rainbow readings to the kids last week, so that was really cool. Um, so she's just so proactive. So she's put PICO on the map with, I should say, with the yarn bombing, you know, it's lovely to come into the village and just see all this beautiful rainbow [00:09:30] everywhere. So, uh, yeah, And so it's a small committee of about five of us, and then we just sort of feed out the events to other people that come on board. We found that's the easiest way to do it. So But we've got a sort of template now that's working. So, uh, yeah, we'll just have to get a bit more legal, I guess. I suppose we do. Now there has been, uh, two pieces of controversy that I'm aware of. One was, uh, this rainbow crossing. Can you tell me what's happened this year for? For four years. When we [00:10:00] first did Georgie's dance, we arrived in the village. I was actually living over in the hut and we drove in on the morning to set up, and it had been chalked a rainbow, and it was just beautiful. It just put a big in her face. So we thought, Oh, that is gorgeous. Next year it got chalked again. Uh, that's the second year, Third year it got painted by some Banksy. It it it it it was. It was the thought was there. But it was a little bit messy, and I think they've taken the feedback on board and done a beautiful job this [00:10:30] year, so it's totally illegal. So we have bank A Banksy, a Banksy in the village that does this, Uh, and it just pops up. You wake up and you've got a rainbow crossing complaint. There was one complaint to the council. They have to act on it. Um, and they were saying because it confuses drive drivers. I don't know why. Because it actually, if you look at it, the white Pops better, I reckon, than just the grey. But anyway, so there we go. Yeah, somebody's actually just crossed the road. Um, are you able to tell me, were you confused crossing [00:11:00] the rainbow crossing? No. No, not at all. I was actually going to offer this, um, water blast out the white stripes. So it's just colours. Only you get rid of the white and it'll all be fine, wouldn't it? No. I think I think it's nonsense that someone's confused about that personally. Yeah, looks good. I think there's, you know, possible homophobia at the core of that one. But, you know, we don't know. And there's a rules. Um, rainbow crossings are popping up all around the world. Uh, and Town's done one. [00:11:30] Wellington's done one palmy has done one, but it's binding Palmerston North. Many people, um, but it's finding a way around the NZT a laws to to actually get something happening. So we're going to have to get creative. Um, it won't look like that. But if if we can get the village behind us to do something like this and put on the map as you know, we wanted to be the first We talked about it three years ago, but But we'd got council said, You know, No, you can't do it. So basically, we need to do a good pitch, get the village behind [00:12:00] us, do a good proposal and see what we can do. A petition going at the moment to get a permanent fixture. But you know who knows it. So what is the council going to do now that it's painted? They were supposed to come yesterday to water blast it off, So we kind of milling around, see if you know this water Blaster was going to turn up, but it didn't. So I guess it get done on Tuesday when they're open again. And, you know, we've heard through the grapevine. It's been done with, um, proper safety road marking temp paint [00:12:30] that they use. So it's not like they've come in and done done it stupidly. They've thought about about it this year, so yeah, so it's safe and, um, yeah, they will. They will water blast that off on Tuesday, but it's it was great that they didn't actually do it yesterday because the look on the kids' faces has been amazing. The kids love it. You see lots of people having their photos taken on it and everything. So yeah, it puts a smile on people's face. How can you know you're not going to turn, turn rainbow just from walking across the rainbow [00:13:00] crossing? Well, we try. But hey, now, the other thing that I was aware of was, um, a couple of days ago, Um um, the organisers put out a statement saying that there wasn't to be any bullying, belittling or discriminatory behaviour. Why was that necessary? Oh, there's been, um, some pretty awful activity around, um, towards trans women. Specifically, um, there's a few people who live up this way that hold some quite [00:13:30] strong views about, you know, trans women are not real women, so we don't want that kind of element here at all. We absolutely stand beside our Trans and we just felt like it was really important to make that statement so that if we do see anything like that, we can act on it. We've now got given ourselves a mandate to do that. Um, I mean, last year we had some 33 guys reading the Bible just down there beside the what used to be the post office. They were just quietly reading the Bible. It's fine, you know, [00:14:00] like they were cardinal by crikey came along, Jack Lynch and, you know, had a good chat to them and, you know, then we got it sorted. I mean, they weren't nasty. They were just maybe confused. Maybe they just needed to go across the crossing. They just wanted to see what a pride festivals like. So that's their way of just coming in, having a little look. They looked like the unhappiest people here. So you know. But you know, if there's if there's outright kind of hatred or or, you know, just, um, just really bad messaging, we we're gonna stamp [00:14:30] on it Basically, we made the decision a number of months ago to put the the trans flag with the rainbow flag. This year we had two rainbow flags last year. So put the trans flag up, so yeah, so we we you know, we just want to get people. Um, I don't know is I hate it when when our own community starts tearing each other apart, it sort of feels like we're back at the homosexual law reform. And we don't want to do that. Yeah, So just just finally, um, personally, what does, [00:15:00] um, putting on this pride festival mean to you both? I mean, I could I don't know, pride. It's just I just I feel really proud. And I feel really lucky that we live in this country in this village that is, that we have the laws that we do, that we've come as far as we have. Um, but it's also a nod that we've still got work to do, you know, um and I think this is just a really joyful way of, of getting everybody on board and keeping [00:15:30] going, keeping the movement going, And for me, it's like, you know, you remember your own coming out story. And as an older, uh, lesbian, it's like, I want to create a safe space on the coast. And this village is the ideal place to do it from. And, um, for our younger youth, um, that to come and come Come here. Yeah. And celebrate it with families. Um, it's such a diverse, wonderful community that that is holding it. So it's the perfect place to, um, [00:16:00] just bring them here for Labour Weekend and show them how How, um, our community is diverse. And how How much love There is so very important with our youth that's coming through. Can S You've just walked across the rainbow crossing. Um What? What do you think about it? I thought it was very bright and cheerful and gives a good feeling for the town. I love it. It's great. Were you confused by crossing? No, not at all. Not at all. And do you think drivers would be confused [00:16:30] when they see that? No, no, no. Do you think we're older drivers, so they'll be fine. Do you think it should be a permanent crossing like this? Absolutely. Yes. Why is that? Oh, because I think it represents the pride New Zealand and also just a nice thing for yes, I agree. Yeah, and kids will grow up with it, too. So that's very powerful. My [00:17:00] name's Rob SUNY and we're in ST Peter's Hall in Pai and Rob, something very special is going to happen this afternoon. Yeah, yes, there's going to be a pride parade, followed by a kids' disco and then the pride dance. And what's your involvement? Um, I've been assisting with the organisation and, um, putting up the bunting, balloons and the decorations for the dance party as well as [00:17:30] the after party. Can you describe, um, the layout of the hall and what it looks like? OK, the layout is, um so we've got a fairly traditional hall. We've got, um, rainbow flags. Um, fairy lights. We've got balloons filled with helium with long ribbons on them. Um, yeah, that's well in something quite large in the centre of the space, which [00:18:00] is a rocket like a rocket. Um, because the theme is space oddity. And that being because it's the 50th year, 50th year anniversary of landing on the Moon and the 50th year anniversary of Stonewall also and stonewall was the the kind of New York uprising? Yes. Yeah. Um, so yeah, so something so, so two things to sort of celebrate, you know, landing on the moon and also [00:18:30] recognising Stonewall at the same time, Which do you think was more important? Stonewall. So So how did you get involved in organising, uh, two very good friends of mine, Um asked if I would get involved and I said, yes, I would, Um I just sort of, um, just graduated as a nurse, and so I had some free time, and so I was available and yeah, so I thought, Yeah, I'll get involved. So I did. And and so what do you [00:19:00] get out of it? Well, working with friends, Um, And I suppose also getting to know a wider, you know, actually creating a bit of a wider network of friends within the community and and as a whole, because I've been fairly transient, you know, come and go out for work purposes. So not much haven't had that much time to get to know people in the community. So this is a really good way of doing that. So yeah. So So directly outside the hall. We've got the, um, amazing rainbow [00:19:30] crossing, and that is where the Pride Parade happens. What is it like seeing hundreds of people walk across that crossing? Fantastic. It's a It's a fabulous, um, the gay community as well as, um, it involves everyone in the community, so it's not just exclusively gay. It actually involves everyone in the community, but it's like, um, it's it's a togetherness, you know? So, [00:20:00] yeah, that's probably the best way I can describe it. Is everyone coming together and supporting each other? So And what is the kind of feeling that you get when you when when you see all those people, Um uh, I feel supported. And there's a network of people out there, and, um, it's encouraging. It's, um, empowering all those really wonderful sort of, you know, cliche words that you you know one can use. Um, [00:20:30] but yeah, most of all, I think it's like you feel like part of a family. That's the big thing. Yeah. What about the difference between having like a a local pride and a say, a larger pride in in a main city? Um, are there any differences? Community? So um, a smaller event means that the community is more involved, and it's also an opportunity for them to get to know each other more, You know, on a on a closer level. Um, a bigger [00:21:00] event is, um you know, again, more people. Um, So you don't perhaps get that that sort of perhaps intimacy that you would with a more a more a local event? Um, yeah, that's really the best way I can. Sort of, um yeah. Sort of describe a larger event as opposed to a local event. Yeah. So you're relying on the local community to do things, whereas in a wider event, you might have a wider community involvement. [00:21:30] Um, so, yeah, and just finally, what's your most favourite pride memory? Uh uh. Really? The dance party? Yeah. Just being able to get out there and just, you know, shake it about and just Yeah, have fun and see my friends. So, yeah, would probably be the dance party. He's a bit of a show, too. Uh, yeah. So that's my favourite thing. Um, of the of the of [00:22:00] Sort of like the weekend, So, yeah, I'm sitting on the beautiful coast of Pai on the coast of, uh, the Wellington region. Um, and I'm watching the sea just lightly roll in, but it is a bit chilly. I think this is southerly off that south island over there. My hometown Just over there. Um, so we are about to take off on the third, uh, unofficial smallest pride parade. [00:22:30] Uh, this is the third one, and I've been to the other two. Last year I was the first dike on a bike, and, uh, it was pretty cool. But this year, my feet are too sore to to manage that. So I'm here, and I'm gonna try and walk it. Uh, I think I think this is wonderful. This is this little lesbian haven for the last 30 years that I know of, and a lot of, um, lesbian couples retire [00:23:00] to this area. I myself, I'm from So that's about 50 K up the line. Um, but I wanted to be with my friends today, Even though you were saying this is the possibly the shortest pride parade. There's still a lot of people that turn up, aren't there. I seem to remember the hundreds of us last year, and, uh, and then there's a few 100 waiting for us at the other end. The first year we did it, we did it in the evening. And we coincided it with walking across the pedestrian crossing into the hall to have a dance. And, [00:23:30] uh, that that was, uh, fairly hilarious because it looked like the Pride parade was crossing the crossing. That was it. So it really was very short. Um, but this is not as short as you think it is. This is a long, um, coastal road, and, uh, I haven't measured the route. And, um, my feet are already starting to complain, and we haven't started yet, but unofficial shortest pride parade. I think there's an application to Guinness Book of Records for that to be true. Um, And I hope that is [00:24:00] why is it important for, um, uh, local communities to have pride, pride, events, pride, parades rather than the, you know, kind of larger, just larger cities. I think that comes back to the issue of local local response local community connection, that that's where we have to go. We've had years of corporate big think big, and this is the local community saying this is ours. This is us. And you can see that in the painted, um, pedestrian crossing [00:24:30] down by where the hall is, where we will end up. Of course, that's been beautifully chopped up into rainbow and, uh, various, uh, flag colours, um, and has been met with a complaint from a local community. Homophobe, uh, and, um, I believe the council's gonna water blasted off. But we I noticed at about two o'clock this morning that little the organiser of this parade has started a petition that this pedestrian crossing being be painted in rainbow colours [00:25:00] like we have in Wellington. And, um, and that this village of Paki claimed that it is the lesbian haven of the world. So what do you get out of, uh, pride events and Pride parades? I'm a disabled dyke. I don't get out very much. I have multiple sclerosis. Um, I've recently this year been quite crippled with arthritis. On top of that, and I have, uh, PTSD, which makes me highly anxious. And it's difficult to be out and about so I don't get out and about [00:25:30] like I used to when I was in my twenties. I'm in my fifties now. And this is my annual event. This is where I come, and, um, I see people I don't see all year apart from on Facebook or Twitter. And I get my annual hugs, lots of them, and, um, get to have a quick chat chat, and then I get to go home and the safety of my own home. Put my feet up and relax, knowing that, um, I'm still part of something. That's very cool. We're in on the, uh, [00:26:00] parade, and we're about to take part in the world's most, uh, the world's unofficial shortest parade parade. Well, is this the first time you've been in a parade? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. So how are you feeling? A bit nervous, but, um, yeah, I'm excited. Have you seen parades on on TV or on the Net before? Yeah, Yeah, I've, um I always love looking at them and, um, keeping up with all the ones around the world. And so, um, who are you here [00:26:30] today with, uh, I'm here with, um my group from KES. Uh, we're a little after school group that meets every Wednesdays. Um, and we just, you know, get together and hang out. And, um, we just support each other. And so why are those kind of groups important? It's really, really important because it gives you the opportunity to actually come out of your shell, you know, not have to hide anything. Um, and it's great because once you start talking about it [00:27:00] and once you, um you know you can start to understand everything and it's helped me a lot, you know, understand who I am and who I want to be. Why do you think, uh, pride, parades? Pride events are important because it's a celebration of the community that we have. And, um, it's you know, it's showing that we're here and, um, you know, we're part of the community, and, um, we're a really strong family together. And, um, when we're [00:27:30] all together, you know we can accomplish great things. I am Daniel. I'm one of the organisers of the Pride Festival and the parade. And so today, in just about maybe 20 minutes, we'll start the parade. We expect a couple 100 people to come down. What's special about this parade? Um, well, I guess it's special because of Kiriki is so special. We've got such a beautiful, diverse community. Um, and a lot of people willing to come out and support our rainbow [00:28:00] community. And I've heard it's the shortest breed. Yeah, well, it is pretty short. Paki is small, so we don't even do the whole length of the village. Um, so it's from Campbell Park to Saint Peter's home. And so can you describe, um, the participants who who takes part, um, heaps and heaps of our community do? The school is a huge part of it. We'll have lots of the kids come out today. We've made tie dye T shirts over the week, and they've made a beautiful banner with the kids. [00:28:30] Uh, handprints. So I think all of the kids in the school have put a handprint on their banner. Um, and we have people that come from Wellington all over the coast. Um, just come to with us. So why do you think localised pride events are important? I think it helps to celebrate our smaller communities. The big pride events are amazing because, of course, we're all celebrating together, and we get hundreds and hundreds of people. But when it's the small community, it feels so much [00:29:00] more closer to home, and we get to celebrate together with people that we see every day. There's been a little bit of controversy this year with the Rainbow Crossing and that apparently it's been, um, confusing and dazzling drivers. Um, what's your take on that? Uh, well, we do. We do understand that, Uh, it's it's something that we need to get done legally. Um, and it has been done over the last few years. There's always seems to be a group that comes out and does it either in chalk or this year. I think it's temporary road paint. Um, we [00:29:30] all think most people in the community think it's an absolutely wonderful thing, but we do have to get it done legally, and that's going to be going through NZ. Can you describe for me the feeling of actually doing the march doing the parade? Um, and what that's like, Oh, goodness. Well, I think any pride parade pride march is a wonderful thing because, well, I mean, originally, it was a protest, you know, a political demonstration, and nowadays it is a celebration. So it's a beautiful thing. And when we come out and [00:30:00] we have all the kids and our community dresses up and everyone's really colourful. And there's music. It's just it's a lovely feeling. And it feels like an inclusive community, which it is. The thing that really struck me is that it feels a lot more kind of grassroots and localised and not having a lot of kind of corporate sponsorship. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. We don't really have any interest in getting corporate sponsorship. Um, we will hopefully get funding from the, uh, district council in the future [00:30:30] so we can do maybe some larger events, get a stage and music. Um, but yeah, it's really just keeping it local. Always. And so what? Um, what do pride events mean to you? It's a celebration. It's celebrating where we've come from, what we've achieved over time and in the future, making it even better for our tamariki. Well, this is a big welcome to Campbell Park Getting ready for the thousands that are going [00:31:00] to turn up for the parade. Now, this is the third year of the parade. Have you been in previous parades? Yeah, I came last year. Yeah, it was great. Can you describe what the feeling was like, Oh, just really passionate and fun and noisy and whistles and shouting and yeah, yeah, I. I think for me the best was the public waving from their houses and calling out and really awesome supported. Yeah. Now, this is a really special parade [00:31:30] because it is the shortest pride parade in the world. Um, but before that pride parade actually goes across the rainbow crossing, um, there's a a 10, 15 minute walk from here at Campbell Park, Um, along the beach front to the pedestrian crossing. And that's it's the pedestrian crossing. That's the measurement. We've got to beat Antarctica this year. Surely. What? What happens in Antarctica? They beat us for the shortest gay parade. Why do you think pride [00:32:00] parades are important? Oh, that's a good one. That's because the straight parades every day, actually, I've just come back from London and, um and, uh, the pride there was, uh, 30,000 more, the response to participate and a million on the side of the road. So to go from that to the goodness Book of records world shortest parades, Just a [00:32:30] So So why do you think, um, doing a local parade is important verse something say like a A large pride parade in a city, Uh, because and it ends at Saint Peter's, and and the minister at Saint Peter's refused to marry a same sex couple. So then the idea came well, we'll colour the pedestrian crossing straight to the church and and it just blossomed from that from that. So you know, it's about claiming back, isn't it? And to do [00:33:00] it small and locally, you know there's no big business. There's no army trucks. There's no big Corporates. It's just community and family. I'm L. I'm from Austria. But we currently live in New Zealand in Wellington, and a friend of ours told us about it, and I think it's a good thing to do. Have you ever been to like a really localised kind of smallish pride parade before? No, I haven't been. Actually, I've been to the big one in Austria, [00:33:30] but, uh, in Austria we had a while ago. We had a quite a small parade as well, and it was actually the reason was because there was a homophobic attack attack in a small local village. And then they organised this parade, which I think was a really good thing, and a lot of people showed up. So yeah, so have either of you been in pride parades before? No. No. And so what do you expect? What's the feeling you think you'll get? Um, [00:34:00] I think I'm just just it's kind of novelty that you're just walking across a crossing. It's kind of fun, But it's also exciting that it is a small place because usually small places are known as being more homophobic and not accepting. So it's it's just exciting. Yeah, yeah, I think so, too. I think it's good to bring it out of the cities to the countryside a little bit And actually, yeah, so more people and get more people involved. And [00:34:30] I think that's a good thing. Why are pride? Pride is important. Uh, I think they're still important. I mean, we have more, uh, gay people have more rights now, and, uh, but still, it's important to show that, uh, we're still not there where we want to be. And I think that's a good cause. And you when you see those parades and families joining and, uh, a lot of straight people join as well. I think That's a really good, uh, thing that's happening now You just add that it's good to always celebrate being yourself, [00:35:00] but it's also important to remember historically how far um, LGBT plus community has come. Um, and always good to be more visible I'm a poor and lonely cowboy Bye man On a long and dusty road I'm looking for a place where I can lay my load I'm fractured and I'm tired [00:35:30] I need to rest my head There's a place down there In where I can get a bed Lonely cowboy on a long and dusty, lonely Cal on a long and dusty road It's a cowboy song, Really It's not really a fine man song [00:36:00] farming some more fast like this. Yeah, I'm so my name is Jessica. Brian. And I'm representing fins. Yeah, uh, me as well So far. An emergency in New Zealand and the volunteer Fire Brigade. And is this the first [00:36:30] time that you've been in the parade? Yes, it is for me. Uh, yeah. We watched the first year, though, from the sidelines. Yeah, And can you describe what the first year was like? Um, yeah, it was just like a really nice experience. There's lots of community atmosphere, um, and sort of friends of ours and helped to organise it. So it was really cool to see, um, how much they were able to bring together and how much support there was within the community. Yeah, it was, um we just caught the end of it. It was very colourful and bright and busy and yeah, looking [00:37:00] forward to that again today. And so today, not only have you brought yourselves, but you've also brought, um, some equipment here. Oh, yeah. So we've brought the fire truck along. Um, and we also have a, like, four wheel drive unit that we've got along as well. And about, um, maybe eight members of our crew are coming along. So why is it important for the, um, fire and emergency to to be in a parade like this? Um, I think, Well, we're both queer, So I think it's nice to show that we support, uh, our diverse, diverse range of people [00:37:30] and backgrounds. Um, And to show that we're there to support the community. Yeah. Yeah, I think especially for us being the brigade and looking out for Paki as a community is a really diverse place. This is us showing that we're supporting our local community. You know, we're part of that all as individuals as well. So it's important that we represent and so as individuals. What what do pride events mean to you? Um, it's a time just to celebrate our differences and come together. [00:38:00] Yeah, for us, it's just another day of being ourselves, and, um, being able to do that in a supportive, inclusive environment. Hi, my name's Roanne, and I've been coming to these parades for a number of years. And what keeps you coming back to these parades? Um, it's just a great chance for the community to show its support for, um LBGTQ. Can you describe, um, the first time you you were in the parade? Well, it was a lot smaller than it is now. It's gathered some momentum, which is really great, and it's really nice [00:38:30] to see supportive of it. So lots of neighbours put out, you know, pride, flags and to and wave at everyone as they go past. I'm pretty sure if you had this sort of thing in some place you probably get beer cans thrown at you So, you know, we're really lucky that he is so supportive of it. Can you tell me, uh, can you describe the feeling of what it's like to to to be in a parade? Um oh, it's just a feeling of community. Really? Um, and it's just [00:39:00] I mean, it's only once a year, and it means that we don't have to travel in town, and lots of people come here. And there's so many events that are around us. So we've got, um, the dance tonight. We had a quiz night last year, and I think we've got one today. Oh, sorry. This weekend, um, there's swimming. There's family. So yeah, it's bike rides. Um, yeah, it's it's really encompassing. Why are pride events? Pride Parade is important [00:39:30] help out here. Why? A pride parade is important. Oh, because it's an opportunity to, you know, for the community to come together visibly and be seen and feel OK to be a scene. And, um, yeah, it's that for so long, it's not been, um, acceptable. And now we're finally having that opportunity to be proud of who we are and, um, stand collectively, so yeah, yeah. What? She said [00:40:00] my name's Debbie, and, um, we're looking at a beautiful rainbow pride flag the epitome of the the parade. Really? It it leads the parade. It it shows our pride for for the weekend. And it just gets everything going for for and and just excites everybody. It just makes the day. Can you describe what you're wearing? Uh, I'm actually wearing the, um the gay flag, the flag and, uh, various [00:40:30] other very, um, colourful pride out, uh, articles. Um, this year I've brought my drum along to make lots of noise and the zoo to get going. So hopefully everyone's in really good spirits, and we will join in with us. Yeah, and I'm I'm wearing a little ensemble of rainbow colours. Uh, I think I don't I don't know a colourful, um, rainbow lay. And we have a local Who? A wonderful woman. Chrissy who, um, knits these fantastic, [00:41:00] um rainbow little cat hats type thing. And we've, of course, got our added little hair pieces. And I've got a tambourine. Now. Does Chrissy also do the yarn bombing that I've seen around town? Yes, she's just fantastic. And she, um she did some fantastic stuff for the school and read, um, a whole lot of, um, queer friendly books to the kids. And yeah, she's a a local Jim. Absolutely. Yeah, we [00:41:30] love we love Chrissy. Every time you go out, you see somewhere that she's been again and we know that Chrissy's around the village. So tell me, what is it like to march in this pride parade? It's fantastic. It's We've been every year since it started, and it is just it just fills your heart. It's really wonderful to be in a community where we we're walking along the parade with the sea on one side and all these people coming out from on the house and the houses cheering us and and everyone's just so happy and it sounds really [00:42:00] cliche, but it's so full of love and so full of joy, and it's for everybody. It's It's wonderful. Yeah, we just love to see the whole village get involved with with us. Um, a lot of the time we don't see a lot of these people in the village, and this is one day where everyone comes out and celebrates and just gets right into it. So what do you think The difference is between having, um, uh, this localised parade and say, a larger parade say, in Wellington or Auckland. Um, I think it's just really close knit community, the feel about [00:42:30] it. Everyone is really on board and, um, and wants to celebrate with us. Yeah, and it is about being home and, you know, like feeling this village is for everyone. And we all celebrate our differences and our diversity and and who we are. So it's, um it just feels because it's smaller, it's smaller and it's more intimate. There's no, um, big corporate kind of anything. It's just us and everything that we bring with it. And what gorgeous weather I know. It's [00:43:00] just we were windy, but it's great for the flags. And, um, it's a typical day. Oh, open up your closet door. 5678. Don't assume your kids are straight. Me? Open [00:43:30] up the closet door. 5678 Don't assume your kids are straight. Do be Open up the closet door. 5678. Don't assume your kids are straight. Fine. Yeah, sure. Sorry. I [00:44:00] yeah. Ah, no, him He is. My name is Hugh Young. I've been out since, uh, 1986. And, uh, I was in a long time before that, and, [00:44:30] uh, it's just lovely to be out with people who don't care what you are. Hugh, can you describe, um, the atmosphere today? Oh, it's joyous. It's lovely. It's a wonderful atmosphere. Is this Is this the first time you've you? You've marched in the parade at? No, it's the second, um, two years ago I came, but I saw how far we had to go, and I didn't do the whole distance. Just the pedestrian crossing. Why are pride parades so important? Oh, it's solidarity. [00:45:00] It's friendship. It's, um, hooking up. It's I've never hooked up at a grade that I can remember, but, um, no, it's, um, it's It's It's I think it's very good for the general public to see that, um, people are much more varied than they might have imagined. Um, it's it's, uh, it's It's a lovely human event and it's holiday. It's festive. You know when When we when we've got an excuse [00:45:30] for a party, Let's do it. Oh, it's great, doesn't it? Lovely. All the colours are the kids dancing. It's fun. Can you describe what we're in amongst at the moment. Oh, well, here at the front, we've got the big pride flag, and we've got heaps of the kids carrying it. Some of them are going under it and out of it in front of it all over. And we got the school just behind us with their beautiful banner and then the rest of our lovely community. Oh, my God. It's just a a giggle of gay coming down the the the road. Now, [00:46:00] um, they're blind in the breeze. They rainbow flags, uh, full out there. There's a couple of absolute queers coming past here with the whole drum set and everything. Keep going. Is this the first pride parade you've seen here? Uh, we've only been here a couple of months, so, uh, yeah, but we were looking forward to it. So, uh, and it's good. They've got a nice Well, it is a nice day. It's a bit breezy, but it's sunny, uh, compared to what we've had. So it's nice that everyone's out, and I'd say there's a lot of people [00:46:30] pull from here, but I'd say there's also people that have caught the train in or driven up from Wellington. So nice to see people supporting. Is it the shortest or the smallest? I think it's the shortest. Certainly not the smallest. Right? Fantastic. Yeah. No, it's cool. Very cool. And how how many is this? This This is the well, this will be the third year that they've They've marched. Um, but I think the first time that the fire service has been here, right? Yeah. OK, well, that's a volunteer fire service there's about. I think that's our next door neighbour here is in [00:47:00] the volunteer fire service. She said there's about 40 of them all together, so they're a pretty vital part of the community, so Yeah, Cool. Welcome, everybody to the podcast and that we crossing shit. Not sure. [00:47:30] The shortest pride. Pride. Right here. Let's do Hey. Oh, let's have a big round of applause for the Macoco drummers. Thank you all very much for coming and supporting this [00:48:00] event. And thank you. Beautiful people. Beautiful community, everybody that's come out to make this what it is today. Thank you very, very much. So you have Pride Festival weekend. Why do we do this? Originally, the pride parades were protests. There were political demonstrations. But today it's a celebration. It's a celebration of what we've achieved over the time. It's a celebration of ourselves and our social acceptance. It's a celebration of our diversity. [00:48:30] So we celebrate and thank you for all celebrating with us all weekend. We have events and of course it's all to celebrate. We love celebrating the rainbow community, but we also do it for our tamariki. We do it so that their future does not have the pain that was in our past and that's why we're really proud that from all the proceeds we get from the events we run this weekend, we can donate them. [00:49:00] And this year we are really, really proud to be able to donate really close to home and donate to the school and another organisation that does a lot for our community. That we're really proud to donate to is the youth project and KS and I just have to thank everybody that comes together to put this weekend together. Everybody puts [00:49:30] in their time and their energy so that we can all have this colour and this beauty and this happiness, so thank you to everybody who put in time for this weekend, so I won't hold you up from celebrating. There's going to be the kids disco in the hall. There's lots of yummy stuff to eat. And it's a beautiful day. What more could we ask for? So thank you again to everybody for coming out. Thank you for celebrating. Thank you for doing this for our tamariki [00:50:00] and for our community. Thank you very much. I'm John Trimmer, and we are in my hometown. Uh, I've lived here for well over 40 years. My darling sister has just come back. I just come back from living in Australia for far too long, and she's now a resident and the gay parade parades are wonderful and they're getting better and better. But I adore [00:50:30] these drumming. Have you recorded some of those? I've recorded some of it. Yes, Yes. Wonderful. That is wonderful. So is this the first pride parade you've seen in? No, Um, I try to get to all of them, but there are times when, um, I've got other things to do. Yes, so I can't like tonight. We're going out to dinner with the ex deputy mayor of um and his good lady. And, uh so [00:51:00] that's it. John, could you describe what the parade looked like? Um, it seemed to take a long time. Um, but it didn't really. Along the the parade, the foreshore There are lots of people in wonderful bright costumes, colourful clothes, waving banners. And I think every now and now and then chanting out whatever their little groups were. And as you can see up there on the banks of the church, there are dogs dressed up in bright colours [00:51:30] and colours and everything else. And, um, I mean, what can you say? It's It's a wonderful thing. I wish this had had have happened in my childhood. In actual fact, um, I was just telling my sister here wouldn't the oldies in our family who are no longer with us, they would not quite believe it. And I when I hear these drums, I start [00:52:00] to get weepy. I do. Because the drumming is wonderful. Can you describe the atmosphere for me today? Yes. Um, great jubilation. And, um, fun of the fair. Everybody is here. Everybody of all persuasions and ethnicities and whatever you want to call it. Absolutely. And they are wearing anything and everything they like. What what's what's the feeling you get from these pride breeds. It [00:52:30] seals the wonderful, um, thing of our village. It is the most. My God. Look at the warrior queen there. Um uh, it it does. It's It's our village. It's open. Everybody loves everybody. So much love around. It's extraordinary. I've never experienced anything like this. That's why my sister moved back from Melbourne. I couldn't stand it there any longer. And I said, Yahoo, about time. [00:53:00] OK, nice to meet you. Could you just describe who's walking past us at the moment? Um, I think that somebody from another planet, because they've got a big pink, fluffy ear and a turquoise furry body with a sort of a tartan shirt on and followed by a couple of unit fairies. It looks like it's very impressive, isn't it? Yeah. Very impressive and very hot. It's It's quite sunny today, [00:53:30] and I think, Yeah, I could be quite steamy inside that costume. So can you describe, uh, what what you are wearing? Sure. I might. I might, um I say I'm wearing I'm wearing, like, a an eighties jumpsuit. Um, that someone did say to me before, um, that, you know, it's very Kath and Kim, which I took obviously as a compliment. Um, some gold Chinese shoes, uh, little white, um, blonde wig. And, um, I've got a tutu around my head. Um, that would have fitted our daughter. [00:54:00] Probably when she was about six. Maybe, um, obviously didn't go around my way. So all my head's fine and and some really nice, fruity earrings that I was really pleased to find this week. Uh, I also wearing a tutu on my head. Maybe that's where they should go. And, um, with a flowery shirt and apparently leg warmers on my arms, Um, and a skirt and tights and some blue sweat shoes. Yeah. We've just come to the end [00:54:30] of the shortest pride parade. Um, how was that to be part of? Oh, just gorgeous. Yeah, we love we love our community. And I think this parade does kind of probably gets more and more popular every year, and, um, everyone's a part of it. It doesn't matter kind of what walk of life you've got. And, um, and the kids at the school really gets well behind it. So and I think That's really, um, exciting because it gives, um It just gives hope for the future. If if if we can start the right on the right way with [00:55:00] our kids, then you know there won't be any more bigotry. Hopefully one day? Yeah, A bit like a kind of I don't know, Sherbert bomb. Little nugget of things just crossing the road there. Everybody just going off. It's great. I thought it was awesome. What's the kind of feeling that you got being a participant? Oh, just just really happy. And, um, and part of something that, um, you know, that means means something. Just yeah. Full of love. Yeah. It's good to see people, like, you know, shouting and singing about [00:55:30] who they are. It doesn't matter who they are, just, you know, and being proud of it. Well, I guess that's part of it, Isn't it? The flag and all of that? Yeah. Yeah. What do you think? The difference is between these kind of localised pride events and the larger ones in cities. Well, everyone knows each other here. Um, So, um, you know, there isn't, You know, if it's and it's an incredibly sort of supportive environment? Um, I don't know. It's probably got that. Yeah. It's got that extra sort of interesting thing when you've got really close relationships with people. [00:56:00] Um, yeah. Yeah. Well, I've never been to I don't know if I've been to I've been to somewhere like Nottingham Carnival. Notting Hill Carnival. Sorry. Um, I guess that is slightly different because you do have a, like side liners and then the paraders, whereas there doesn't seem to be any side liners here. It's just everybody joining in. So yeah, that's cool. My name's Joe and I live on the parade, so it goes right past my house. So I thought, um, I would go down and join in. Is this the first time you've you've joined [00:56:30] in? Uh, yes. I've only lived in since February. And can you describe what was the feeling like, Um, it was it was really uplifting and really nice and friendly. And, um, yeah, it felt like a community because I don't know anybody here, but it felt like people coming together. It was really nice. It has. It has a very inclusive field, doesn't it? Yes, absolutely. Yeah, very inclusive. And what a gorgeous day eventually. I [00:57:00] mean, I think the wind is just part of it, isn't it? Well, I come from the tropics, so obviously I'm taking my thermals off a special occasion. Can you describe what it was like to be in the parade? I was just friendly, and everybody was chatty and nice, and, um, it was like it was bright. And, um, yeah, it was, um It was energetic. Yeah. What's the what is the importance of having a pride parade or a pride event? Um, I think a lot of [00:57:30] the time people focus on, um, pride in Sydney or in big cities where everybody goes. And it goes on, you know, in right into the night. Um, but I think it's important that, um, small and local, Um, And I think, um, I think the has quite a high gay and lesbian, um, residents from what I can tell. So, um, so why not? Why not here? Hi, my name [00:58:00] is Pete, and I came to this parade because I think it's very interesting to have this little town in the suburbs, and they have the shortest parade in the world, and it's just crossing the street. Actually and it's really nice to see all these different people, like very young kids, but also all the people. And it's like a nice family event. And yeah, is this the first pride parade you've been in? No, I've been to a couple of them, Uh, but I've never been to such a small one. I've once been to Sweden and there was a similar atmosphere. It was during day [00:58:30] time. It was like this whole family event going on really nice atmosphere, because there's other cities where it's more like a party. But this is my Yeah, So can you describe what the feeling was like to to walk on the parade? Yeah, it was nice when I mean, when you walk through the this neighbourhood, it's very quiet. But then some older people came on the balconies and they were waving at you and yeah, it It's just, uh it was very friendly and welcoming. And yeah, [00:59:00] it was a positive, very energetic. At the end, there was these drummers playing and everybody was into that. Now we got this kids disco when you cross the rainbow crossing. Did you feel confused because there there has been kind of some news items about, um, people being confused as they come to that crossing. How? How was it for you? Yes, so many colours. I was so confused. I hardly made it the five steps. No, of course it's It's no trouble or anything at all. We get a crossing in Wellington as well. We dream of colours [00:59:30] in other cities as well. So I don't see any problem or any trouble that might cause it didn't make you start questioning your your sexuality and identity. Not really. No, I'm pretty sure I know about my identity. Why do you think? Uh, a localised pride event is, uh, important. Compared to, say, like these bigger ones in cities, just the setting is a different setting because you always have these bubbles in the cities where, like, let's say, a lot of of the Remo communities concentrated, they have their own neighbourhoods. [01:00:00] And I think when you go to more rural areas, um, I think it's, uh they're not as used to to seeing queer people, and it's not that present. And so it's nice that you see that they also support it in a way by like, looking at you and waving and and maybe even coming here. And, uh, it's also good, I guess, to raise awareness. And you mentioned, if you're a young kid growing up in a more rural area, um, it's it's nice to see Maybe if you're gay and you're six years old [01:00:30] and you see stuff going on like that, you feel, Ah, I'm not the only one. So that's, um that's a good thing. Yeah. Hi, my name's kin. I'm from Tasmania and I came here today because my girlfriend took me on a trip and it just so happened to be a gay pride parade, which I was incredibly excited about because it meant I could turn a look. Um, it's pretty much the same. Well, I Well, I live in Wellington, and so I basically decided, um, long weekend found out there was gay pride, and my friends are down here. So I thought, Let's go and see how the pride's going. [01:01:00] So I know we have pride parades in Wellington, but what about Tasmania? Well, actually, there is one in Hobart, but it's not. It's not very out and about there. I think there needs to be more done really. So can you describe what today's pride parade was like? I thought it was fabulous. Just any bunch of people getting together to celebrate. Freedom is fabulous anywhere in the world. Yeah, No, I totally agree. I mean, especially in this day and age when you know you think about America and [01:01:30] some of the legislation that's been going on, you know, anti trans legislation, stuff that's being Mike Pence is not particularly a great fan of the trans community. So there's all those sort of things, um, where we become more extreme and so gay rights where we get them. But then also, they're taken away. There's gay marriage, and then it's taken away. So these parades are still really important. Yeah, more so. I think now the end of the parade was walking over the Rainbow Crossing, and there has been some controversy this year about that, saying it was confusing for people. [01:02:00] How did you find walking on it? Well, the way that I understood it was that it's the shortest parade in the world because it is from one side of the road to the other, which I think is a fabulous idea because it allows the parade to grow, but it will still always have the badge of the shortest unless somebody walks on half of the road somewhere else. I wasn't at that part, so I can't contribute. Sorry, I just arrived 20 minutes ago, [01:02:30] but But you have walked over the crossing. That didn't confuse you? No, not at all. Not at all, Actually. I got here before everybody else and I've got all my fabulous photos in the middle of the crossing on my own. That sounds cool. Any confusion for you? Confusion. No, no. Absolutely No. Seemed pretty clear and straightforward. Yeah, so it was cool. Yeah, And it's a lovely day and everyone's dressed and looking wonderful and, you know, flamboyant, [01:03:00] which is really cool. So why are pride events, pride, parades important? Well, pride? Parades are important because it's important for people to celebrate, and it's it's for everybody. I mean, it's not about you know so much about sexuality. It's about the union of of Everybody. That's why I think they're important. Well, I think like, uh, pride like it will always be relevant, and it will always be important, like as long as there's, uh, transphobia or homophobia [01:03:30] or, you know, prejudice or stereotypes, then the pride will, you know, does marches still need to be, um, continued. You know, it always needs to be relevant, you know? So it's a yeah, I think it will always be important. People have fought for rights. I mean, where I grew up in Dublin, and so and Dublin. For years, I assumed we were I was sort of ignorant. In my early twenties, I just thought, Oh, you know, I'm able to go to gay clubs. There's so many gay clubs and just assumed [01:04:00] that things were OK, but there wasn't How do I say it like, I mean, I'd never questioned the idea of gay marriage. I thought that was stupid. Now, obviously, I think it's really important, and they should have it. But so even ideologically like back in my twenties, there were things that I never questioned, which now I see is like, you know, a bad idea. Yeah, we should have had gay marriage and there should be these things. So, you know, and I thought it was like, sort of freedom of movement. But, you know, I don't know. I mean, there's always room for improvement. Having said [01:04:30] that, like, Dublin is a very gay friendly city and has some of the best gay bars in the world. I think by prejudice did they do they have crossings? Um, I don't know about gay crossings to have the gay pride and all that. And, um, one of the times I really missed not being in Dublin was when gay marriage got brought in by referendum. So it was a vote. And so there'd been a big, long chase to that. And when that happened, and when it was announced, the whole city was packed, Yeah, and I was just like it was raining in Wellington and I was [01:05:00] like, you know, just going to the cinema. Yeah. And then I get these drunken phone calls from my friends, and it's like, you know, and they're all on these. You're looking at the videos, and it's all sunny over there, and they're all crying with joy because of the pray the marriage thing being announced. And I was just, like, so green. I was just so pissed off I was like, Yeah, whatever. You sound really drunk. You sound really drunk, you know, It was just like I mean to just call out because I'm jealous, but yeah, no III. I definitely missed. I would have loved them to be over there. [01:05:30] I was actually here when the gay marriage got voted here. As, um, a few of us were invited to see it in parliament, so that was a bit more low key, But it was still obviously a historical event, so that was great. And of course, after the parade, you get the parties and I'm from Sydney, and I went to I started going to the Mardi Gras in the early nineties and I would have to say Like after the the walk, best parties in the world That's like, You can't [01:06:00] beat them. You really can't beat them. Hi, I'm Tony, and I'm here today. I've been This is my third year coming, and I enjoy coming, So yeah. Can you compare this year to the previous years? Has it grown? Has it developed? Yeah, I think it has a little bit more people. Um, yeah. And just seems to be more diverse with the people as well. I think it seems very inclusive. Yeah. Yeah, a lot more inclusive. maybe this year. I just think it's getting bigger and people are coming [01:06:30] for the whole event and celebrating diversity, I suppose, over the weekend. What? What is your favourite event? The parade today. And why is that Just that's the only one I'm doing this year. Yeah. Can you describe what it's like to to, uh, be in a parade like that? Um uh, it's a sense of belonging and being with people who love each other for who they are. And, yeah, no judgement, like it's a safe place to be. Can you describe for me what the parade was like [01:07:00] to do? Oh, it was just totally awesome. We had the wind of that back, which was a really, really nice feeling. It gave the flags a bit of, um and there's just a great sense of celebration. I think one of the things I loved was that you're actually parading past homes and you know, all these people coming out and finding ways they might be shy of being part of a parade, but it gives them a chance to kind of actually contribute in in these kind of ways. Uh, yeah, it's just a wonderful thing. There's just also just an incredible diversity of people involved [01:07:30] here, I think, and having a labour weekend at the same time as our school gala and plant sale. Also, there's just a kind of sense of everything's kind of yeah, fused together. I. I get a real sense of inclusiveness here. Absolutely. I think there is inclusiveness. I mean, I. I think every community is really diverse. And that maybe doesn't go for everyone like the The Painted zebra crossing here is not liked by some people in the community. So I think if anything, he is in danger sometimes of deciding that we love pride and we love this. And we love that [01:08:00] When, um you know, I think democracy is about everyone having a voice. So I think we've got an interesting political challenge as a village in terms of because I, I I'd love to think a future here is really great participatory democracy, and, um, yeah, that's about everybody. So it is inclusive. I think it's a very inclusive place, Uh, and that makes it an interesting place to to live there. There was some controversy this year with the, uh, rainbow crossing and and I. I thought there was a complaint. Wasn't there saying it was? It was confusing for for drivers. [01:08:30] Did you feel that? Well, I don't think it's confusing. I think the pest. The problem is the pedestrian crossing is already quite dangerous. Um, I. I don't see an issue with it myself personally, but, um, it's it's a difficult issue when it's essentially illegal and it's a, uh, it's a land transport issue and the council don't really have any say in it other than having to spend thousands of dollars to mop it up. So it's it's It's kind of a really interesting issue. Um, I'm glad it's there. And I, I think, in terms of, uh, queer activists and other [01:09:00] community activists in the community. You know, we should continue to paint it, but, uh, it's it's a complex issue. Yeah, What was it like? Can you describe for me what it was like to actually to to to walk across the crossing? Because that is the parade, isn't it? Ah, it's just really nice. There is something actually really cool about this kind of compressed stage. It's a catwalk, right? So it's the parade is catwalk as pedestrian. Rainbow is a good and I think that's really, really cool. Um, we got, uh, we We've got a banner [01:09:30] that we made for dot NZ our website this year. We got to parade with that for the first time this year. So that was actually for a few of us that have been involved locally in developing our identity. And this, uh, this this platform for the community, that was pretty special. Uh, well, we run a business in Paki called Paki Pops where we make, um, real fruit, handmade gourmet popsicles. And, um, we wanted to support the Pride Parade and the Pride Festival, and we made special rainbow Pops for the day. So we've been selling those. They're five different [01:10:00] colours, and we donate a dollar from every pop sold to project youth at youth support. Hm. So what what is project youth? Um, it's a social and support group for Rainbow. Are you defying young people? And it's run by capital youth support up in. Yeah, and I think a lot of some of the funds that are being raised this weekend are are going towards it. Not just us, but yeah. And how have the Popsicles been selling really well, We, um we sold out really quickly last year, so we've made double the amount and we've sold out again. So we have to [01:10:30] make more next year. What's the, uh, what's the most favourite colour? Oh, I like the I like the green. It's like a kiwi fruit and lime. It's really zingy and kind of tasty. So that's pretty nice. Yeah, I don't know. I yeah, I don't know. I like the orange one. It's kind of a new newish one for us. It's got carrot and ginger in it, so it's pretty exciting. So you must have so much fun. Like creating these these new new flavours here we do, Yeah, that's the part that really it's the funnest part of it. It's very time consuming doing a pop like this [01:11:00] because you have to layer it and freeze it and then put the next layer and freeze it and things like that. But it's really fun figuring out how to do that and how to make it look right. And so, yeah, it's good kind of getting creative on it. Yeah. Can you describe, um, the atmosphere today? Uh, I think it's amazing, like it is just the best of and, um, just so amazing. We can be this tiny little village and we can host something like this and just, um, everybody just in such a good mood and the sunshine having a great time all around, the kids having an incredible time in the disco [01:11:30] and their rainbow, you know, their rainbow hair and their rainbow face paint. And I just think it's just the best of the best of people, really. It's Yeah, it's lovely, lovely atmosphere. Why do you think these localised pride events are are so important? Um, I don't know. I guess it it enables people from every area to come out and and get involved with their community, I suppose. And I guess if you're not growing up in a big city, you might not see people around you that you can necessarily identify [01:12:00] with or, um, and so it's kind of good to have it in these kind of smaller towns as well, where it shows that we are. We might be a small town, but really diverse. I think that's a good thing for young people to be able to see. So So So we've just seen, uh, the the world's shortest pride parade. How did that? How was that for you? Quite emotional, actually. But it was fabulous. It was great to be part of it. Yeah, And to cross the the cross lane. That was a great when you say emotional. What? What emotions were you feeling? Pride. [01:12:30] Um, yeah, I know. Yeah. Happiness. Yeah. Good to be part of it. Good to be part of this generation. Actually, I was thinking maybe 30 years ago, it wouldn't have been like this. So it's great to see it. And a lot of young people here today, we noticed that was amazing. Two amazing lesbian women had their dogs dressed up really neat, and I carried one of their flakes for them. That was awesome. Just meet some friends going to catch up with them later on tonight at the dance. So that's really nice. Is this the first pride parade that you've been in? [01:13:00] No, no. I've been in a few in Wellington. Yeah, for yes, but not pride. We've done Wellington quite a few years and yeah, Dublin as well. And London? Yeah. Can you describe I mean, I'm thinking London, London is huge. Can you describe, um, the difference between say, like a London pride event and and what we've had today? I think the difference for me is you just get to know people here in a much smaller place. London. You're just part of a bigger thing. But here you can join in and be part and like, be one. [01:13:30] The community was amazing. And Children from the school that all got in and involved. And it was just awesome to see the local fire service. Uh, just great. Yeah. Why are these pride parades important, I think, to celebrate the diversity of of other cultures, but also who we are and what we are. And, yeah, that's one of the main reasons. And will I'm going to give the last word to you. Means chairs. Good health in Irish. [01:14:00] Yes. And I think, Well, that could be my theme for it. Chairs and good health.
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