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Hello, my name is Tony Reed. Welcome to GAYA radio program for L-G-B-T-I people and their friends on Coast Access Radio 1 0 4 0.7 FM and other access radio stations around New Zealand. Today is what has really become an annual event where Gareth Watkins and his [00:00:30] husband Roger Smith, come up here and give us a, a series of little recordings from Pride, NZ website about mostly local events relating to LGBT people and here they are again. I can't believe it's been a year, Tony. It's been amazing. Well, it's actually only been 11 months. I noticed. I was, it was like longer. Yes. I was slightly quicker off the mark. Anyway, so we, all the files are prepared, so I should hand over to you. Oh, thank [00:01:00] you. Thank you so much for the opportunity. It's really fantastic to be able to, um, come up to y can't I, and, and, and, uh, present some of the, um, pride NZ material from 2021. Uh, it was a huge year in terms of, um, we had significant events and legislation that went through Parliament, uh, and of course Covid. Um, but, uh, I was thinking maybe starting with a celebration. And in March, 2021 at Thistle Hall, uh, we had Tana's 20th anniversary, and Tana is a, a Tucker Tap [00:01:30] group in, uh, based in Wellington. Uh, welcomes, uh. A range, a, a diverse range of sexualities and genders. Um, it was formed by Dr. Elizabeth TI in 2002, uh, 2001, sorry. Um, and it was with members of Team Wellington who were going to the gay games in Australia. And, uh, Tana for the last 20 years have really been involved in almost. All, um, community events around the Wellington region, um, really ing and [00:02:00] supporting those events. And, um, it's a fantastic organization. So on this evening, uh, on the, uh, 15th of March at Thistle Hall in Wellington, uh, to f AA celebrated 20 years, and I was fortunate to be there, uh, with Raj. And, um, we interviewed, uh, Dr. Elizabeth Ti, who's now a member of Parliament. I, I talked to a wee bit about. Ana, but I also asked her, um, about her maiden speech in Parliament, which had just happened a couple of months beforehand. Uh, that was an incredible thing. [00:02:30] And over the years when times have been hard, and especially on the campaign trail, uh, I would just close my eyes, imagine myself giving my speech surrounded by all the people I love, and it would give me strength and it would, I sort out my attitude and get on with the work. And it was. Incredible. We had over 230 people come from all over the country, and I, I sent the call out, let's paint Parliament purple, and we absolutely did everybody there and just [00:03:00] so many shades of purple and, and being able to speak in the house. About issues for PU that why PU writes as a treaty issue, how much work we need to do to uplift the mana of our trans non-binary and intersex whanau. And just having Ana there to do my, for me and do the kanga, and it was just. I thought I'm home. As long as I know I have them [00:03:30] all behind me and all my family, all our friends. Uh, but our community is, that's the mandate I need to do the work to, I need to do in this house. And already you can see the impact. Where do you think Taana will be in 20 years from now? Oh, we'll, we'll still be going There is fun. Number one is fun. Uh, because of that leadership, and it might not always be me and Kevin that are there, but I [00:04:00] believe that space where you can come into the city, be Maori in a way that honors your diverse sexuality, your genders, or your sex characteristics, I believe there will always be a need for that. And if it's not in this form, it'll be in one way or another. But it's also why we must document our histories as we go. Uh. Because we are just living it. We're doing it, and, and Tana is in demand. There's nothing that happens in our community, in the Wellington region that Han is not part of, and [00:04:30] that's for an indigenous L-G-B-T-I-Q group. There's nothing like this in the world. What TANA does is absolutely world leading and we need to make sure we capture that and we rec, we record it. Ourselves. We, we talk about leaving a legacy, but the story of how we operate, that's, that's a story in, in and of itself. Yeah, well, in March, 2021, uh, we had Wellington's Pride [00:05:00] Festival and for the first time ever, we had out in the city, um, out in the city was uh, held at the Michael Fowler Center, and it was an amazing event. It had. Three floors of, uh, stalls, which were around the outside of the auditorium and also performances. I think all up there would've been around about 7,000 people that went through, um, out in the city. Um, out in the city was of course, um, the, uh, in, uh, it was the event that was originally called the Lesbian and Gay Fair back in [00:05:30] 1986, and that was established for. Homosexual law reform, uh, affair for a fair law, which is, uh, it, it was talking about the age of consent. Um, and so almost every year since there's been a, some kind of gathering in Wellington, so there's been, um, out in the square out in the car park when the square wasn't available, um, and also out in the park at Tang Park. And last year the organizers thought they wanted to make it more accessible, uh, by bringing it. [00:06:00] Inside. So there was kind of lift access. Um, and actually it was better in terms of the weather because, uh, we weren't, uh, reliant on Wellington weather being good, which is sometimes hard to rely on. Um, but it was an amazing event. Um, one of the, uh, new groups that were at that event was the Wellington Indian community and, uh, his organizer, Aaron Soma. So I'm Indian and I'm gay, and I'm, I'm married to my, uh, husband. Uh, we've been together for 10 years now. [00:06:30] Um, we marched in Pride last year together. I noticed in Wellington, uh, pride Parade, there weren't any cultural groups. There had been previously, but there weren't. So I took it upon myself to reach out to the Wellington, uh, community, the leadership, um, to talk to 'em about, um, I identity and diversity and inclusivity, and they were on board with that. Uh, so it's been a, a good few months of very healthy conversations to get to this point. There are tough conversations along the way. There [00:07:00] always are. But nothing, um, that was worth doing was ever easy. And so we are here for that. Um, and we are just so grateful to be in those conversations and having, uh, people back us at the same time. Can you describe what it was like marching in that pride parade last year? I mean, I love marching in pride. My mum was there watching me and she was a, a proud mom. And, uh, I loved every moment of that. So every time I, I wear a rainbow flag. Um, I do it with pride, um, but I can, and there are [00:07:30] others that can't possibly in the Indian community. And, and so our goal is to really encourage those people that they can do that too. And if it's not for them, if it's not the right time. 'cause everyone has their own journey and wrong time and different timeframe. It's important. To know that we are there as their voice too. And when the time is right, we'll still be there for them. And that was Aaron Soma and, um, Tony, have you been too? Um, many kind of out in the parks and out in the, [00:08:00] out in the events. I. Well, uh, gap as it was then in Rainbow Wellington were, did organize the, the, the fair in, in Newtown for several years. So I was very involved during that time. Um, I think once it, once it got taken over and moved into the town, it was, we were, we were less, we were less organized. But I have been to a couple, a couple in the park when it wasn't pouring with rain. What, um, what's the kind of feeling you get when [00:08:30] you go to those kind of events? I. I mean, of course I prefer, I preferred Newtown. Uh, 'cause at that time, 'cause at that time, you know, uh, the out in the park and out in the square were very weather thing. Whereas in Welling, uh, whereas in Newtown, we could all, uh, we, a large part of it was indoors in the school buildings. And I remember one year it absolutely poured with rain and we all had to cram into the hall and Richard Preble visited, which probably made it even worse. [00:09:00] That he was the local MP at the time. Well, it's amazing that it's been going for so long. Yes. And uh, one of the other anniversaries last year was actually the 35th anniversary of the passing of homosexual law reform. So on the 9th of July, 1986, it was the third reading of the homosexual law reform bill. Um, which was really amazing. And that bill was introduced by Labor MP Fran Wild. And to mark that occasion, the 35th anniversary last year, there was a panel [00:09:30] discussion on the eighth July and it featured, um, Fran Wild, who introduced the bill into parliament. Um, Kevin Hanoi, who was also a member of, um, one of the leaders of ana. So it was great hearing from Kevin and also the, uh, current speaker of the house, Trevor Mallard. And way back then, in 1986, Trevor Mallard was, uh, an mp, a labor mp, and this is, uh, his reflections on the time. We knew absolutely we were going to win [00:10:00] by three. Fran had been told, and you know, she kept on telling me and I didn't rely on it, that we were getting an extra one. Effectively, we were told a proxy vote. Um, we also had, uh, two, um, national members of parliament whose electorates were strongly opposed to it, but who had family members, um, brothers, I think in both cases [00:10:30] who were, who were, they were gay and they indicated that they were not prepared to see the legislation fail. They went to the end of the lobby. Yeah, and waited for a signal that the legislation was going to pass and then went and voted against it. Wow. What I'm trying to say in this is that for people involved, it was, it was hard. It was, it was [00:11:00] awful. Politics. Fran might have built communities around the country who were supportive. I don't think we ever got above 32% support in the polls for the passing of the bill. This was a bill that was at the time, not wanted by the majority of New Zealanders. It was a, it was a matter, it was a matter where Fran, and, and I think you haven't mentioned Michael Cullen, who was No. Mike Michael Cullen, who, who, who was, um, acting involved, [00:11:30] Ruth. Ruth Ruth not only helped run the campaign, she sort of ran Fran's house in order to, you know, looked after the kids and made sure there was food and all of that sort of stuff to free Fran up to do the work because Fran was the person who could convince people. So I think, I think for me it was, it was an education. Um, it was an education to how Parliament [00:12:00] worked. I. Is education into people. Um, but what has happened since the freedom to be oneself that has flowed from that for me, has just been absolutely fantastic. That's MP Trevor Mallard. Uh, but the push for reform in a whole variety of ways really does continue on today and last year saw a number of really significant pieces of legislation make their way through Parliament. [00:12:30] Um, well, or progress through Parliament. Uh, there was the, uh, conversion practices prohibition, legislation bill, uh, more commonly known as kind of, um, the anticon conversion. Therapy in quotation marks. Um, that was introduced into Parliament in July, and that's currently before a select committee. And then there was the second reading of the births, deaths, marriages and relationships registration. Bill, the B-D-M-R-R bill. And that was on August, [00:13:00] 2021. And the second reading that Bill referred it back to a select committee to really, um, inquire about the self-identification clauses that had been inserted by the previous select committee. So normally it goes reading one reading to select committee reading three. Um, this bill has had two select committee readings. Um, which is quite unusual. Um, the bill really generated a whole lot of public attention. Uh, there was a group called Speak Up [00:13:30] for Women New Zealand, who were very much against self-identification and they, they organized events around the country, uh, which met with quite large counter protests and one of the large counter protests, one of the rallies, uh, that. Roger and I attended, um, was outside the Michael Fowler Center. So we had speak up for Women New Zealand meeting inside, and then we had a, a rally of over a thousand people. It was probably the biggest rally I'd been involved in, um, outside. Um, and it was organized by Queer [00:14:00] Endurance Defiance. And here's, uh, Tristan Cordelia. Trans women are women. Trans women are men. Trans men are men. Trans men are men. Non-binary genders are valid. Non-binary genders are valid. Trans rights are human rights. Stress, right on human rights.[00:14:30] You are all beautiful. You are all amazing. You are all valid, and I love every single one of you.[00:15:00] My name's Tristan Cordelia. Uh, I'm a Wellington trans woman. I was MCing the event tonight. Um, I'm feeling just, you know, amped up. I guess I was feeling very nervous before the event. A little worried how it would go. I blew up the sound system before it even started, so we had to use a feedbacky microphone. Uh, I didn't get to play the amazing playlist we had selected, um, but every, the crowd seemed to respond well. They're amazing. And now I just have all that energy. If, if somebody couldn't be here [00:15:30] tonight, but really wanted to be here, what, what would your message be? Be to them. Um, don't be afraid to be yourself. And support others who are struggling to be themselves, lift each other up and care for one another. It was such a large, uh, crowd outside, uh, that, that rally, uh, in Michael Fowler center. And, and it was all about, um, the, the, um, self-identification part of the legislation watch, [00:16:00] which basically allows someone to self-identify the agenda on the birth certificate, um, rather than having to go through, uh, a family court process so people can do it now before this bill. Um, it just has altered the mechanism by which people can do it. Um, the Queer Endurance Defiance also organized a smaller event, which occurred in September on Suffrage Day, and their event was called Suffrage Day for All Women. And that was in response to a group called Suffragettes [00:16:30] New Zealand, who were holding a march at the time in Central Wellington. And the march was called Fight for Our Rights. And so there were two, uh. Uh, different kind of events happening at the same time. At the, uh, queer Endurance defiance event was, uh, activist Maddie Drew, and here she's speaking. Uh, there's somebody standing in the back who's wearing a, uh, woman's group ribbon, and I've just been trying to explain to her that that woman's group is actually anti-trans. They're not pro-women. [00:17:00] If they were pro-women, they would be campaigning about poverty. They would be campaigning about housing, they would be campaigning about violence against all women. They wouldn't just be trying to ban puberty blockers. They wouldn't just be trying to stop people transitioning. They wouldn't just be being mean. 'cause I think that's what they're doing. They would be helping, helping the bigger issues for all women and all people in New Zealand 'cause that's [00:17:30] more important. But instead they're out here. Prosecuting one of the most persecuted groups in the country who have some of the worst social statistics because of how they get treated. So if you know somebody who's in one of those groups who's wearing one of those ribbons, tell them they need to, if they want to support trans people, they need to not be part of those groups. Those groups are not pro-woman. They are anti-trans. End of thank you.[00:18:00] And that was Madi Drew. And, um, Madi has actually has a long association with the kind of Cup region, doesn't she? Was she a a, uh, she wa she was the Green Party candidate. I think it's about three elections ago. I can't remember. It wasn't, it wasn't that recently. She has moved to Wellington now, but she lived in OT Attacky for years and, and I think was called on to be the Green Party candidate at the last minute, at one of, at one of the elections. And I interviewed her then. For this in capi. Oh, [00:18:30] fantastic. Fantastic. Um, Madi has had, has a, a long history of, um, activism and, um, is, is an amazing person. That event, uh, when mad was speaking happened during COVID-19 alert level two. Remember that? Gosh, where we were all social distancing and wearing face masks. Um, but at that time, so we're talking September last year, the vaccine rollout, um, was just kind of ramping up. And for some communities, uh, for a whole variety of reasons, um, getting a vaccination [00:19:00] was, um, quite hard and some communities had quite low vaccination rates to help. Um, the Rainbow Community Access Vaccinations. Uh, there were a number of rainbow friendly popup events happening around the Wellington region, and one of those was in, in November. Um, and that was a, a, a really, um, amazing event. Uh, here are two clips of audio from that event. Our first. Compass from Inside Out, which is a, a Rainbow Youth Support, uh, group nationwide, [00:19:30] um, is describing why rainbow specific vaccinations are important. Uh, sorry, rainbow vaccination events are important, and that's followed by Associate Minister of Health, doctor Asia Vel, who attended the event. There's a lot of, um, medical distrust in the rainbow community, especially in our intersex and trans communities, um, because of historical and ongoing, um, gatekeeping and misinformation and, um, like calm that comes from the medical community sometimes.[00:20:00] Um, and I think this is a safe place for rainbow people to come and access medical care, uh, without. Feeling the fear of discrimination, sort of like, um, hanging over, um, them as well, knowing that, um, they can sort of get this thing that maybe people are feeling a bit anxious about, um, in a space where they don't have to sort of deal with other things on top of that, that maybe make 'em feel more anxious. Like things like getting, uh, misgendered or dead named or just [00:20:30] feeling like they're not being represented, um, and just being around their own community as well. I think that's super important. Rainbow Communities had a really strong tradition of taking matters into its own hands when it comes to health activism, and that goes way back to HIV and all those sorts of, um, causes that the community's taken on for itself. And this is one we've totally got to get behind. How has, um, your work with HIV and aids. And affected, uh, how, how you are working with Covid. Yeah. I [00:21:00] think one of the things that, um. That's really strong reminder for me is how stigma is part of infectious diseases and the experience people have. So if you, if you want people to participate in a, in a program, then it. You can't be simultaneously telling them off for how they got covid. And so that's been a real challenge, um, because, you know, we have had, um, [00:21:30] outbreaks associated with gangs and drug use and things like that, but the, um, the, the health response always has to come. Come first and be, um, you know, you've always gotta have a welcoming door out to people. Well, I briefly mentioned earlier about the, um, push to ban conversion quotation marks therapy, uh, earlier in the program. And that was introduced to Parliament on a very special and significant day, the 5th of August, [00:22:00] 2021. And here's Labor MP Ma Lubeck, um, during the first reading of that legislation. Madam Speaker, on this day in 1944, Anne Frank and her family were arrested after more than two years in their secret hiding place in Amsterdam. Now, one might think, what does that have to do with this conversion practices prohibition? Legislation bill? Well, the link is clear. The issues that got Anne Frank and her family arrested and ultimately killed are still [00:22:30] relevant today. We need to ensure we protect one another and particularly our ranu tahi against dangers of prejudice, discrimination, and intimidation, honorable ground. Robertson said this at the unveiling of the end, Frank Memorial in June this year. Every single day we see elements of discrimination and hatred around us. We see the elements of exclusion, of putting people outside and making [00:23:00] them the other. So every single day, it is our job to call that out to say this is not acceptable, to strive to build the world that Anne Frank talked about, A world of hope, of courage, of beauty. Now, Madam Speaker, New Zealand is a country that values and accepts our rainbow community, right? For though the need to be convicted to subjected to any kind of conversion therapies. [00:23:30] So-called conversion therapy is not only just something that doesn't work, it's actually shown to be incredibly harmful. And some of the speeches have pointed that out. Trying to convert someone by making them believe that due to their sexuality or gender identity, there's something wrong with them that requires changing, can cause severe adverse mental health effects. Claiming to be able to cure homosexuality as if it is a mental I illness or some kind of behavioral problem, [00:24:00] and giving people false hope at the time when they are struggling about who they are is harmful and can be fatal for members of the rainbow community who are already vulnerable and five times more at risk of mental health issues and harm. Well, there were also a, a lot of happenings in rainbow Arts, uh, last year. And one event I, I thought I would just highlight was, uh, the panel discussion, gender Matters and writing, which was held at the National Library in August. And it [00:24:30] literally happened just a day before New Zealand went into nationwide Covid level four. Uh, it's, it's, it's amazing to think about. We were sitting there, there was no social distancing masks having a great time, and then the next day it was like. The rug's being pulled out. Um, so here's our part. Emma Barnes, like, I think that part of what's fun for me about poetry is trying to explain things that don't otherwise exist. And I think that is like feelings, like my [00:25:00] feelings don't exist to anybody else. What I'm trying to do is write a feeling into words that then reverberates in someone else and causes a feeling. And I think that. I don't know, what can we call that? Like alchemy or something like transformation? I don't know that I'm, I'm into describing what doesn't exist, and I think that's maybe how I got here is because, uh, I came out as a lesbian when I was 18 because in the nineties you were gay or you were straight, and that was kind of it. Um, I did know a trans woman at that time, [00:25:30] um, she was a trans woman who was a lesbian, and I kind of knew that I wasn't. Trans. I didn't want to be a man exactly, but I also didn't not not want to be a man. So it was like a really confusing gray area and there were no real words for it at the time for me. So I just kind of like carried on. And it is really through language and exposure to other people playing with language that I've gotten closer to understanding myself. The more I explain myself through words, the more I get to be. [00:26:00] Myself. 'cause I don't feel like I have to day to day. I get misunderstood all over the show. You know, like sometimes I get called misses something, which is like, you know, but I can also exist in a space where I don't have to explain. As well. And I think that that's also a thing that you have to do. Poet Emma Barnes. Well, I thought, uh, would end, uh, the program today by returning to Parliament for the final debate of the births, deaths, marriages and relationships registration bill, which happened in [00:26:30] December and throughout the last part of last year. The select committee was hearing submissions about the cent self-identification aspects of the legislation, and much of it was live streamed. There were hours and hours of it, um, available on the internet. Commenting on some of those submissions. Uh, I thought a, a nice way to end, um, today's program is Labor mp Deborah Russell, um, talking about hate speech. The third thing I wish to address from what happened during the hearings was what I would simply [00:27:00] call the language of hate, and it was a language of hate that came through from people opposed to the spill. Some people were worried about Autogynephilia. I'd never heard the word. I had to go and look it up. It turns out that Autogynephilia is, uh, used to describe men who get sexually turned on by imagining themselves to be in a woman's body or to have women's body parts. I actually thought we were over shaming people for their sexual preferences. [00:27:30] Uh, but actually a lot of the language I we heard directed at trans people. Was language that we've heard directed against gay people. It is the language that treats people as non-people, as people who shouldn't be allowed to exist. And we were required to listen to it, but I do not think we are required to listen politely to it. As mps, of course, we must listen to people who come to our select committees, but I will not listen politely to hate. And I think it's important that we don't listen [00:28:00] politely to hate. There were young trans people watching those hearings, and if we sat there and listened politely to hate, it would sound like we were, it would seem we were endorsing that hate. So I say congratulations to the committee members who expressed their disapproval of the language of hate that came through so loudly. Oh, well, we've managed to fill our, our 30 minutes very easily, as usual. Thank you very much, Gareth, for as usual, a high quality, uh, sort of presentation [00:28:30] and, uh, as you say, a very interesting year. And I think, and I think another one to go, another one to come because the, uh, uh, um, as national voted against the first reading of the, uh, of the bill, uh, on conversion therapy. It's going to be interesting to see, to see what happens, um, at the end. I mean, it'll get through easily, but I think 2022 is gonna be a very interesting year on a whole range of different levels. So, um, yeah. Thank you so much for, for having us. [00:29:00] Thank you. And thank you for coming all the way up here. The train, the train journey is Thank you too. Thank you very much. You can hear this program again next Tuesday at 8:00 PM or Thursday at 5:00 PM It is also available on our website at dw dub dot coast access radio.org nz, or just Google Coast Access Radio. This is Tony Reed on JO on, on GAY, on Coast Access Radio, 1 0 4 0.7 fm. Uh, saying goodbye.[00:29:30] This program is made with assistance from New Zealand on air, for radio broadcast, and through the Access Media NZ website. Thank you New Zealand on air.
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