This page features computer generated text of the source audio. It may contain errors or omissions, so always listen back to the original media to confirm content. You can search the text using Ctrl-F, and you can also play the audio by clicking on a desired timestamp.
[00:00:30] OK [00:01:00] [00:01:30] killed. [00:02:00] Thank you all for coming. I'm really excited because, uh, for history has arranged a series of events. The first, uh, was with Wellington Parade, uh, to do the movie night and the dance with dance. Uh, we had the dance upstairs on Saturday, and then the opening to our exhibition here was on Monday, so I know I'm always Yep, we're gonna dance, We're gonna party, [00:02:30] we're going to do art, and we're going to have fun, and then we're going to do some work. So this is the work bit. So thank you for coming for this. So our format for tonight Quick fire. I know people have got great things going on on their lives, even if that includes being on the couch watching TV. Uh so So I appreciate you've taken time out of your evening to be here, so we got two segments to tonight. The first we're going to hear from some speakers people who work and [00:03:00] who do things in our community and do different ways of collecting information. And, uh, yeah, how do we keep our stories alive with some of the some examples of that? And then we're just going to spend the second hour doing some quick work shopping things. Get out of the chair, do some moving around. And it's not, like interrupt interpretive dance or anything or something. Not that kind of out of your chair thing. But, uh, yes. And so I would like to introduce our first speaker, and we're going to Each [00:03:30] of the speakers will introduce actually themselves. And we're going to get the ball rolling. And you know the order speaker. So we'll just roll, I'll remind you after each. So we're gonna start. Thank you so much. We're gonna invite you to come on up and have a recording. Uh, I'm, uh, Gareth Watkins. And, um, I, uh, founded pride NZ in 2009. So I'm going to talk a wee bit about my background and also pride NZ. Um, but firstly, [00:04:00] thank you, um, Elizabeth And for for for offering this opportunity, it's really fantastic to be able to come and speak and and share, um, to give you a bit of background about me. Um, Mum came from Yorkshire in England and Dad came from in Wales and they came out to New Zealand in 1960 something in the sixties. Um, and I was born in Wellington in the seventies. Um, my connections with the United Kingdom have really kind [00:04:30] of been disconnected, So I've I've kind of lost really connections with which was a small Welsh mining village in Yorkshire. And, um, it just, I think, points to the, um those connections can easily be lost within a generation. Um, and I kind of feel that a wee bit about the Rainbow Communities as well. It's very easily to forget, you know, what's what's been before us. And so I think that's one of the drivers for me, for pride, DNZ is to make sure we or we try not to forget. Um, I've been working [00:05:00] in radio since, uh, 1990 mainly in public radio. But I've also done commercial radio and, um, Wellington access community radio uh, two stories from Radio New Zealand, um, which I thought were quite interesting in the mid nineties. I wanted to make, um, Rainbow related documentaries. And so I went to a senior manager there, and they turned around and said, You can't have gay voices on the radio, because if one minority group are on air, then [00:05:30] others will. And I was thinking, Well, what's the problem? Um, but there was a problem. And so a lot of the documentaries I was making in the nineties actually were broadcast overseas, but they were never broadcast in New Zealand. So there's a There's a about six documentaries that haven't been broadcast in New Zealand. Um, which is is kind of interesting. Um, the thing that pushed me out of Radio New Zealand in 2006 was a was a, um, quite a. It was a small thing, but it [00:06:00] was a huge thing as well was that, um we had done a programme on disability, and there was an advert for that that played on the on on air. And a senior manager said, We must take this off air because this person sounds retarded in quotation marks. And I just could not believe the fact that, um, the managers at the time couldn't allow other voices to to to be on radio. So, um, I did a quick exit of Radio New Zealand and went to, uh, access radio [00:06:30] in Wellington. And access radio is a community station that has had a long association with a whole variety of groups and individuals. Um, that allows anyone to broadcast and has had a long association with, uh, Rainbow Communities. So right back from the early broadcast in 1981 I think on the first broadcast, there was, um uh, a lesbian feminist programme. Um and, um then there was the lesbian community programme. Right from which Linda was, um, set up, [00:07:00] um, one of the founders in BC, which was around kind of homosexual. Yeah, Yeah, it's an amazing, um, community platform to to to allow people to to, um, put across their views. In 2008, I undertook a Winston Churchill Memorial fellowship when I was at access radio to look at community media in California in the US and to look at sustainability. How do how do we keep things going? Because access is always on a knife edge between [00:07:30] whether it broadcasts or whether it doesn't, um, got really inspired. Came back to New Zealand thinking that Oh, there was all these wonderful people with so much passion. So I put a proposal into New Zealand on air to get funding for a nationwide radio rainbow programme that would have regional reporters and they would come together and would do a weekly, um, programme. That was rejected. Um, New Zealand on air said that, um, it needed to have a commercial backing in terms of like you had to go to, like, AM or some [00:08:00] commercial station. And there was no way that a commercial station station was going to run half an hour of, you know, queer content and that kind of form. Um and so I've applied to N on air about four times with various themes around that that kind of Pride NZ type thing of having long form, um, rainbow related material and four times they've said no. Um, but being turned down financially was actually really good, because actually, it prompts you. It says, Oh, well, [00:08:30] you know, do it yourself. Use the resources that you've got. Don't wait for government funding. Even if it's small, start small and just keep doing it. And, um, it has been going for seven years Now, Um, this actually is the seventh 100th recording that we're doing tonight, which is really cool to me. Yeah. Um, and to me, it's just amazing that it has kept going. And I think the reason it's kept going is because, um, [00:09:00] we just do it as we can when we can. We don't try and be this huge big organisation. It is. You know, if we've got the resource at the time, we do it. Otherwise, we just say, Well, that that would be nice to do. Let's work, work towards towards it. So we're not really setting ourselves up to kind of be huge and possibly fail. Um, so basically, I'm the, uh, executive editor, And then I coordinate recording projects, bringing people in to do projects like, um, Jack did a wonderful project around the on botch series. Um, also [00:09:30] the homosexual law reform interviews. And he's done. And Connor has done some really amazing youth interviews. Um, yeah. So it's kind of bringing people in and and getting them kind of involved. And I love that idea of peer to peer interviewing. So it's youth interviewing youth, um, or or elders interviewing elders. Um, just because you have different access and those different groups ask different questions. So it's not always coming from the same point of view. Um, which [00:10:00] I really love. Um, so some of the recordings we do are are one on one interviews so reflective, say, looking back at somebody's life, looking back at a career, um, or current interviews. So it's, uh, what is happening to somebody in the moment. There's nothing like that kind of energy of We don't quite know what's going to happen, you know, there's a there's a real energy to it that you don't get it. If you're reflecting back on something, um, we do a one off recording. So like the Orlando Shooting Memorial, Um, which was, [00:10:30] um, done by inside out, which organised that which was an amazing event. Uh, conferences like the proud Conference, Um, and even 30 years since homosexual law reform we're still having first, Like last year we had the first was at the Writers Festival in Auckland, the first time in 30 years that that that that had happened. Um, so we were able to record that, Um, so for me, it's not about one project standing out. It's about just the fact that pride NZ exists after seven years and that each [00:11:00] recording builds this and contributes to this body of, of of knowledge that we can share and kind of maintain, Um, for me, Yeah, it's all about the, you know, the voices, that kind of challenge, what I think and challenge what other people think, but also a firm, um, community as well. So I get a lot of kind of, um, comfort from hearing kind of rainbow voices in terms of, um, gaps or concerns stories that aren't being [00:11:30] told. Uh, you know, there are thousands of stories and voices that aren't being heard. Um, but I don't think it's one organisation that will collect those stories. And sometimes stories aren't meant to be kept. You know, sometimes they they they they just go, they are, and they go, Um, but so for pride and Z, it's it's doing what we can, but also trying to help enable other groups to do their thing. So, um, offering training for other groups to do podcasts and and [00:12:00] to get on radio to kind of, um, be an enabler enabler. Sorry. Um, yeah, through training and support. Um, my biggest concern. Really. And I think, um, Ellen will echo this is the the vulnerability of digital files. That so we've got 700 recordings on pride NZ. They're on two hard drives that have to migrate every four years. If they don't get migrated, the hard drive might fail. What happens if both hard drives [00:12:30] fail? You know, we're we're we're stuffed. So the fragility of digital files is is huge. So, I, I think, um, we'd love to work with, you know, in terms of developing a way of making sure that we can, um, keep those digital files because it's not like a bit of paper or a photograph, which may survive 100 years. Um, in four years time, those files might not, um, so it's kind of scary thinking in those terms, but, um, yeah, thank you so much for inviting me. And, um, [00:13:00] I hope that was interesting. I realise now I need to take notes. Um, yeah, Kevin, honey is my name, and my background is Maori effectively. My both my parents are Maori come from different parts of the country. [00:13:30] And, um, of course, I inherited their histories of where they came from in terms of, um, uh, the people that went before them and the histories that were going on at the time, Um, for them. So I was brought up in the Bay of Plenty and born in spent my early life in places like and which are really, [00:14:00] really tiny places. Uh, where forestry was the main income for the small town of and native forestry was the probably the, um, the income. But my parents were teachers, so they were, um they were they they came through the Ardmore teachers College system, which [00:14:30] means, I think these days that they were they were prepared to be teachers in a certain way. Uh, as Maori teachers, they had to save a little bit of time at Native Maori schools before they then went to, um, primary schools. And I guess the reason why I'm telling you a little bit about my in that sense and those histories is because, um here to talk really about [00:15:00] as the or songs as the, um, as the means by which legacies, uh, the means by which politics, uh, the means by which emotions and all those sorts of things are are conveyed. And so part of the history that comes from my father's side, um, comes down through to who was a, uh Well, actually, [00:15:30] where I come from, and the the stories that the people told me they use the word, which means a mischief. So and I think that was somebody that challenges, um, conventions maybe or the way that that things are done. And so, uh, was a particular form of protest that, um, uh, used to used to use [00:16:00] change the words, uh, reframe a and actually, uh, play it back or sing it back to his detractors. And so there's a famous, uh uh, I think it is is like a chant, uh, called, uh, which is sung along the East Coast. And he reframed that particular, uh, to talk [00:16:30] about all the things that were going on at the time land wars or land sales and so forth. So I talk about that because, uh, I've done a little composing, and the compositions that I wrote about come from the perspective of being gay or in today's society. And so the song for me was [00:17:00] a way of using the tools that I was most, um, comfortable with, particularly with songs, uh, but using those tools to reframe the voices, which I wasn't hearing when I was growing up in terms of being uh, there were no stories. There were no novels. Really? Um, there were No, there was No, there was no history. There was no scholarly base around, uh, around. And so [00:17:30] I'd always grown up as a as a youngster, knowing very well that I was same sex attracted or sexually attracted, probably sexually attracted to men. Well, became men at that time, was sexually attracted to anything that was not anything but, um, sexually attractive. That's what I said. But the, um [00:18:00] And now I got it. But basically, the song was written to at a time when, uh, the civil union bill was was being debated. And the very public face of Maori during that time was, um the destiny Church marches because they were predominantly Maori. And the church is all in black was also around the similar time [00:18:30] that, um, even the church and the Maori Church, in terms of bishop was saying, Oh, you know, blah, blah, blah, those sort of things. So this this particular song was was written in response to what I was seeing, and actually, I was in Sydney at the time that those marches were happening and and I saw it on TV, which actually, uh gave it an even greater sense of of, uh, importance to me, because here I was sitting overseas, watching [00:19:00] this going on and thinking that this is what people are seeing over in Sydney, and this is what they're thinking that Maori are all about. And I thought, No, it's not not the case. So it is about creating it is about creating a legacy. But in the first instance, it was actually a political response. Uh, and the legacy actually actually came after that because the legacy is that people wanted to sing it. People wanted [00:19:30] to create actions to go with the song, and it took about five years or six years before the actions actually came to the song. Um, they And when I talk about the song, I know we're talking about words, but there's actually a whole lot more to it as well. The whole storyline of the journey within the within the song the, um, the different layers within the song. So that, um, [00:20:00] one of the layers is actually follows a welcoming process of with a and right through to when you've finished your speeches and sung your song and you're coming together and so forth. Um, the other. The other aspects of it was to use the language of our forefathers as well. So it actually uses a lot of language that wasn't developed by me, but phrases that are well known within Maori to [00:20:30] reflect the thoughts that I wanted to give them that song. So I think to myself, What can we learn from from, well, absolutely heaps. Um, but as I say, it was also using the tools that I thought was most effective for my primary audience, which was Maori and are an essential part of that. That audience, [00:21:00] I think, and just a quick note to add to that because the humility that is Kevin uh, is that we make sure as a group, as we give life to that by always singing it, it's our signature. And when we teach it, we always teach the words, uh, what it means in English, the history of it. And let's [00:21:30] say that that in that moment when Kevin was reacting to what was happening here and he wrote these amazing, beautiful words, but still it's 12 years later, we're still singing it we sung it on Monday night and and so that that's the way a lot of it. One of the comments that was made at about is all these new ways are written every two years for these big, massive performances and never sung again because they they're responding to issues of the day. But then there's no groups [00:22:00] are writing the next ones and performing the next ones. And that's Thomas. I just wanted to add that it's still there. Yeah, got it up. Um, my name is Linda Evans, and I'm here partly as one of the curators of the lesbian and gay archives. Um, [00:22:30] my personal, um, background is a kind of a hybrid. My biological family, um, is in Irish and English, um, and came to this country sort of from the in the second half of the 19th century, right through to the thirties, various waves, um, and the Irish were Irish Catholics, So there was a particular perspective on history. Um, and, uh my. But then, [00:23:00] for me, also, a big part of my background is being part of women's liberation and lesbian feminism, and that's sort of my That's my family as much as anything. Both, you know, both are not, um and also, um, for many years now I've lived in, so that's kind of become my place, even though it's not where I was born. Um, and the lesbian gay archives is, um, an organisation that has been around [00:23:30] since 1977 in a slightly different form. And it's a little bit like, um, Kevin was saying, you know, it came from activism, and I really like that. Um, it was the archive. It was called the Lesbian and Gay Rights Resource Centre. And it was in a house in a building in street, which has since been demolished. Um, and it was the archives of the National Gay Rights Coalition, Um, and Pink Triangle newspaper. And, [00:24:00] in fact, one of the, um, Roger Swanson. Who's the other, um, curator of the archive. Um, one of our colleagues at work was one of the people who started organising those papers on a PE P job in the very beginning. So that was quite a neat kind of beginning. Um, and so there was. But then it became, like a resource centre that was consciously developed by, um uh, a couple of guys, um, who were, um, librarians. And the last one was Phil Parkinson, who worked [00:24:30] really hard for many, many years, Did a huge amount of work on the archive and building it up and making sure it was well documented. Um, then and and also, it was used as an in an activist way. It was really important for law reform. It sort of produced, um, background material and information for MP S and really became a specialist, um, archive on HIV A. I DS as well. So it's kind of, you know, got a real activist background. Um, [00:25:00] it, uh, in, um 1986. Uh, there was a fire, an arson attack on the archive. And so at that time, everyone regrouped and thought, What? How can we make it more secure? It's very vulnerable being in a building that has other, you know, political groups, um, community groups, people living, you know, so you can't It's not a secure building, and you didn't want it to be one. But, um, So with the cooperation of, um, Phil Parkinson's colleagues from the Turnbull, [00:25:30] um, most of the collection was salvaged and an arrangement evolved with the Turnbull Library so that the archive could be kept kept safe and secure there, which has got its pluses and minuses. It's certainly safe, Um, and the Turnbull houses it and provides helps us provide access to the collection. The trust still owns the collection. Um, but of course, it's not a place people can just walk into and browse. So we have to work out other ways to make things more accessible. [00:26:00] And I think that's a kind of a part, a big thing for me, of working out other other ways to make things available while still encouraging everyone to come in as well. Because there'll be things that we're not going to be putting on the Internet or making easily available outside because, you know, people's names are there. People's personal details are there the, um, Gans collects, uh, manuscripts like papers of groups, the papers of individuals. So, uh, which is, you know, really important and a really important [00:26:30] aspect of any archive. Our groups, papers don't always survive. Um, people move on, people move house. You know, sometimes the record keeping is not great. Um, because because of the activist nature of many of the groups. Um, and we have posters, other kinds of things that are produced in the course of creating our cultures, creating our political groups, um, and our events and our political actions. So, [00:27:00] um, posters, flyers, ephemera, buttons, you know, all of that kind of material. But also, we're interested in personal accounts of what, um people's experiences are and their observations and their thoughts about things. And I guess that's where the oral history came in, which I see that Elizabeth has kind of put me down for as well, because it's my day job as, um, curator of the Oral History Centre, as was now [00:27:30] the oral history and sound collection at the Alexander Turnbull Library. And um, that's a job which at the moment focuses on the the collection of recordings of interviews and events, um, but also can be involved with, um, training and research and other aspects as well. And I think oral history is really valuable as a way of, um eliciting, um, material making sure people's voices are included, especially if they may not have [00:28:00] large numbers of papers or large or or a whole lot of other photographs or whatever to show for their lives and their activities. But it's I mean, I think oral history is valuable, whether you're well known or not, because it can cover those mundane aspects of life. It can cover people's personal reflections. And I think one of the things where it differs a little bit from what Gareth is doing, which is so valuable having all the material that's readily available is if if people wanted [00:28:30] to speak, um, frankly, they can retain some control over access to the material for some time if they want to, so that we can say, You know, we'd like to gather sensitive material on quite a sensitive topic and people to be free to talk openly about it. And then, um, it can be restricted for a certain time or there can be a permission procedure. So it's just got that extra layer possible and then, you know, maybe in in way into the future it will be available more [00:29:00] widely. But, um, for now, it can be, um, mediated the access to it. So, um, I think one of the well, if you talk about a project that was, um that I was and and we I think we all have been happy with. It's been used and used and used as the work we've done over the years around homosexual law reform. And Gareth did some really valuable digitization work for us when we got a, um, a small grant and we were able to digitise recordings relevant [00:29:30] to law reform some of those on Pride NZ and, um, David Henley's wonderful photographs that have been the images you often see of, um, especially of the Wellington aspect of the law reform campaign. But we'd like to, you know, make more material available now and work on some other topics, because what anything that's readily available is what gets used. And I think we would have noticed that during the, um, celebrations, the anniversaries and stuff everyone reaches for the material [00:30:00] that's readily available. And those are the images that get reproduced, and those are the sound bites that get reproduced. And so it was great that we had them there. Now we want to do more, um, in terms of the gaps. Uh, well, there's lots of gaps. I mean, we try to be comprehensive about all of our related communities, and, um, we do have some overseas material because it's no doubt been really influential in, uh, in, um, what's happened here? And people have [00:30:30] travelled to and fro. Um, people have read stuff from overseas and been inspired by it. Uh uh, the digital, the the fact that we don't have the ability yet to do preservation of digital material, we can collect it, but we don't have that access to preservation yet. That's one of our most urgent and pressing needs. Um, and I think the other, um, Gap for us is is a just, um Well, as people will know who volunteered to do [00:31:00] volunteer work at the archive, we're kind of only on the threshold of organising ourselves to move forward with that, um, being able to draw on community resources. And we always would like more and, um, personal stories, personal photographs, so on. So if you've got anything that you think would be, um, a good contribution to the archive, please talk to me or to roger. And, um, we'd be really happy to talk with you about it. And if anyone's got any questions [00:31:30] later, happy to answer them Still that trying to try put channels on OK and pressing. Um, I'm Sean Torrington, and I've just finished a project [00:32:00] called We Don't Have To Be the Building, which is currently on Courtney Place in the light boxes. And, um, I'm here via video to, uh, talk about some of the processes around, um, recording our stories through creative means, Um, through that project. So it was, uh, for me, it was about looking for my queer, um, ancestors through activism and and art making, uh, starting [00:32:30] with homosexual law reform 30 years ago. So that was a real catalyst for me this year. It really kicked me into action and, uh, sort of gave me permission to to look for, uh, look for some of our stories as well. Um, I used a consent based model for this project, so I felt like it was OK for me to ask for people to be involved and talk to me and and sit for me to be drawn. Uh, as long [00:33:00] as it was always ok for people to say no at any point through the through the process. Someone asked me recently what the methodology was, Um and, uh, I said curiosity, creativity, uh, care, layering acceptance stuff like that. So for me, it was quite a, uh uh, a human sort of project. It wasn't academic, but it was a research project, um, through various [00:33:30] media. So I started in in the, uh, lesbian and gay archives, and they showed me a lot of stuff about about the history that I didn't know, and particularly around solidarity, politics, conflict and divisions within our community divisions that were then there 30 years ago and that are still there Now, they showed me things I didn't expect. Uh, the project was focused on the [00:34:00] queer female support of homosexual law reform and from there, an expanded look at what prevents us from freely accessing and exploring our own bodies, genders and sexualities. One of the things I found in the archives in La Annes was, uh, about the exclusion of bisexual women at that time in the eighties and nineties, from from feminists from lesbian spaces from women's spaces. [00:34:30] Uh, I didn't know about that. It was really painful to, uh, learn about that and read about that in the archives. And as a researcher and as an artist, I had to address that in my project. um so and that was that was one of the points when the project started to become more about solidarity and how we reach each other across our differences. Um, than than maybe about maybe about anything else. Um, So I I had [00:35:00] to rely on my own friendships and my own, uh um relationships of trust to ask for those those stories in the project. And they're in one of the light boxes. There was also Solidarity called for in the archives for land rights and honour in, or, um, and people talked a lot about caring about oppression that doesn't directly affect you. Uh, people saw homosexual law reform as a human rights issue that affected [00:35:30] us at all. Um, and for me, that was really motivating, um, to think about creative ways to bring us together. Um, I heard this, uh, this word, um, from Moana Jackson last week. The the work to bring us together, Um and yeah, I feel like that's really, really important. Um, I wanted the project to be intergenerational, and that's one of the things that's happened [00:36:00] through the archives. It's allowed me to put the voices of our ancestors into those light boxes, Uh, some of whom I know and some of whom. I don't, um, and and through that, I guess I've produced a new archive of of our Stories of embodied creative, uh, research and documentation. Um, I just wanted to talk a little bit about, um So everything in this project was [00:36:30] invented. It was about listening and being guided. And the last stage was the was the dawn blessing, and the knowledge and wisdom of how to do that was brought by, uh was powerful and generous and wise. And I will always be deeply grateful for that. Uh, I understand also that that was a real moment in our in our, um and, uh, history. And that's all been documented as well. [00:37:00] So everything's been documented through photographs and audio and video, and, uh, as well as drawing and and writing. Um, the project was a range of experimental offers, and it was really revelatory for me about the ability of creative practise to here, Hold, reflect and record our stories. Um, And to do that through workshops through drawing people through, asking [00:37:30] people for their story. Um, And for me, as an artist, uh, for that to be a, uh, a service that I could offer to my community to be a a kind of skilled vessel for those those stories. So, um, that's my contribution to to tonight, [00:38:00] uh, and be the national coordinator of Inside Out. I just wanted to thank Elizabeth and for, um, inviting us here to be part of this tonight. I think it's really Yeah, it's a little bit intimidating speaking, um, after these wonderful people who have been collecting, um, all this history and I guess because we're an organisation that has only been around for four years and everything's new and we're talking about social media, um, and we've done lots of work with people like Gareth, um, and Shan. Um and actually, just this week, we've been putting together a little pile [00:38:30] to submit to LA So it's really exciting. Um, yeah. So I'm ky. Um I grew up in the UK. Suffolk East Anglia. Um, my family. My mom's side is, um, comes from Inverness in Scotland, um, and moved to, um England. She doesn't know the, um yeah, she doesn't know her, her dad. So that part of our family is a little a gap for us. Um, my dad's side of the family are mostly, um, English, with also some Russian and Japanese [00:39:00] connections. So we've kind of Yeah, it fits from here and there. Um, and my family moved over to, um, New Zealand in 2005. Um, my parents split up, and my mum decided to escape and go on holiday for six months, and she asked us where we wanted to go, and we were really into Lord of the Rings. So we said New Zealand, Um, nine days later, we flew here and never went back. Um, I mean, I've now been 10 years later, I went back for my first time, and it was Yeah. So [00:39:30] we, um we were really lucky to to come to a and, um, eventually get residency here, And, um, just so, so grateful for that. Yeah, that journey. Um, and here I've lived in, um, Nelson. Um, now Wellington. Newtown. Um, I'm really happy to be here. Yeah. Hi. Uh, I'm Conor. Uh, I'm I'm Or which is top of the South Island. Um, I grew up in Fiji. I lived [00:40:00] there for eight years of my life, and then I shifted to Nelson. Um, and I did lots of, like, activist kind of stuff there. As a teenager, I've always been a very idealistic kind of person. Very big dreamer. And so I went to school right after Tabby and, um led Nan's alliance of Queers and Straits after her and I was on the board of down there. And then Tay invited me into to be a part of inside out when I shifted to Wellington a couple of years ago. [00:40:30] So now I'm schools coordinator at inside out. I do, Um I just network with schools, and, uh, I guess a lot of our work can be found on social media and Tabby and I constantly, like, watch. We post on the Facebook, all the Twitter, all the instagram, and I don't know. It feels weird having like an actual presentation about that, because it's just like, I don't know. It's like, how do we make this sound intelligent? [00:41:00] Um, so, yeah, I'm really I'm really happy to be here, and I think a large part of what we do inside out is we're a by youth for youth organisation, so it's pretty intimidating being, um surrounded a lot in our work by people who are a lot older and experienced than us. But we like to think that we have some kind of youth. The perspectives? Um, yeah. So inside out. So a national charity, um, established four [00:41:30] years ago, um, kind of came out of, um, get my experience at high school going to the first, um, school, probably in the whole Asia Pacific region, to have a Queer Strait alliance or Rambo diversity group. When I was coming out, that was just incredible to have my school kind of affirming who I was and to have a peer group, um, to support me in that. But through that, I learned that a lot of other young people didn't have that same experience. Um, and that Yeah, there's some really horrific bullying going on across the country in our schools. Um, and that still [00:42:00] is, um so, yeah, I got involved in setting up a community group for Nelson called which Conor and I were both part of. And then, um, yeah, once you finish school, there's not really much to do in Nelson. So it was kind of like, OK, I need to get out of here. Um, but also, there's this I don't want to stop doing this work. It's so important. And, um, through that work, we got in touch with lots of other groups or schools that get in touch with us, Kind of wanting to know how they could start up similar groups. Um, so I just kind of really saw when we were talking about gaps. So we saw this [00:42:30] gap for, um, yeah, an organisation to really be doing work to support our schools, um, to support our our people in remote communities to be safe at school. Um, so that's kind of where inside out started, and then it's just grown and grown. Um, we've kind of expanded our vision to be a bit broader and think about all the ways that we can make our people feel safer in our in our communities. Um, schools are still our main, um, focus because we can't do everything, so we've got to start somewhere, but, um, yeah, we like to look at different ways that we can do that. [00:43:00] So can everybody read that this is inside out? We are. We are, um so right here. It says the concept of inside out is about supporting people to be happy and accepting of themselves on the inside and then continuing that support to see them be a positive influence in their communities, using their story to help others. So I'm over really big. Well, we're all really big supporters of telling our personal [00:43:30] stories, and we do that all all of our workshops and things like that. It really helps because most of our educators are usually career, so they usually have lots of lots of stories. Um, and next slide. Cool. So, um, as a youth organisation, social media is vital. Um, because that is how you reach a lot of young people. Um, so that's our Facebook page promoting tonight's again hope to get some people along. Did anyone see it? I don't [00:44:00] know. Um, there we go. Um, one really cool thing about Facebook in terms of again looking at, like where the gaps are. Is that on Facebook? You can through a page. You can do this thing called insights, and you can actually see who is interacting with your page so you can see, um, like what age groups whereabouts in the country they are, um, gender. Um, you can see how many people have interacted with each post that you do and stuff. So that's, um that can be really useful in terms of maybe figuring out, um, who you're [00:44:30] not reaching, um, through this platform or, um what? Things are working well to post this is our instagram, um, on the web, it looks different on your phone. Um, one thing I love about Instagram is that you can when you get what Instagram. Ok, great question. So Instagram is basically a mobile app. Um, where you share photos? Um, you can see. [00:45:00] Um guess the insta part is is the idea that it's meant to be kind of instant so you can show and people can see what you're doing in that moment. Um, I can't say we're that good at doing the moment. I I'm a later gramme kind of person. Um, yeah. Um, and a lot of young people, um, use instagram. So, and it's I guess it's Yeah, it's really visual. So it's just the image you can put a little caption. Um, but it's mostly yeah, about kind of the image and whatever that portrays. Um so for us, we mostly use it to when we're at events. So we probably [00:45:30] do one tonight to be like, Hey, we're here doing this cool thing. And then, um anyone who likes our page can Yeah, see what we've been doing. And, um, I guess it's a way of sort of like a newsletter, but like a constant one in a way, because it's kind of people constantly knowing what you're, um what things you're involved in or supporting in the community. Or, um yeah, so one thing I like is that on instagram, you can, um, attach your location. You can put you where where you are, and then people can search that location and see all the photos that were taken there. So, for example, [00:46:00] um, last week we had our National Day of Silence campaign, which is about, um, breaking silence in schools about homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, and the silencing that lots of young people have to go through about their identities. Um, so we went along to Wellington Girls College and, um, they did a open mic to break the silence. We, um, had a little chat, and then on Instagram, we were able to share that photo and put Wellington Girls College. So now when everyone, anyone, maybe past students or whoever looks up Wellington Girls College on Instagram, they'll see this photo with the rainbow flag and [00:46:30] the day of silent stuff. So it's kind of it's also attaching history to like places in a way, which is Yeah, another way of just leaving that legacy. Um, that's our Twitter page currently looking for board members if anyone's interested in it, Um uh, yeah, again, we have tend to have a slightly older audience following us on Twitter. So it's interesting as well to see if you put things out on different the same things on different platforms, what responses you get or who will be engaged. Um, cool thing about Twitter is that you can re retweet so you can [00:47:00] share what other people have posted. So, like, today, we retweeted or yesterday, um, Rainbow youth, um, up in Auckland, they were sharing a research study, um, that people who are Asian and part of the rainbow community So you just click a little button, and then that also goes out to all the people that follow us as well um, YouTube? Um, yeah. So less social media. Because that's I guess that Yeah, that video and sharing stories. But, um, it's another way that we like to Yeah, put things out there especially, um, through some of our, um, youth who events [00:47:30] that we've done kind of capturing little experiences of that and putting it out to, um, people. And I think, Yeah, I'd like to. I'd like to think that in however many years time, people will be able to watch those and get a little glimpse of what we created in those environments. Um, these are lots for our recent day of silence campaign getting young people to share some of their personal stories. Um, so, yeah, again. Kind of what it's like in 2016. We've got some from the year before as well, so maybe Yeah, What's it gonna be like in 10 years time? Um, when we [00:48:00] you know, if we're catching those stories about schools, what? What will it change? It's quite exciting. Yeah. So I just wanted to talk about a day of silence campaign as one example of a way that we use social media. So that's, um, when I asked you to put your hands up. I just explain. OK, so I'm gonna explain the concept of a hashtag. Um, so I'll try and probably not the next person. Um, so [00:48:30] can you help me here? How do you say it's your slide? Ok, cool. OK, so a hashtag um no, actually, why? Why? It's a hashtag Anyway, That's a hashtag. Um, you can make a hashtag of anything so we could make one for this event. We could put hashtag leaving a legacy or something on lots of social media platforms. People will be able to, um, search for that and then all the posts that anyone has ever tagged with that, um, will [00:49:00] come up. So it's officially used on Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr. Not so much on Facebook a little bit. Um, it's like a library catalogue. Yeah, that's what you're told. It's totally out of date. It was really useful for the day of silence because we'd be able to kind of track how the campaign's going [00:49:30] across the country through that hashtag so we'd search it up, and then we'd be able to put that all on our website and stuff. Yeah, and Yeah. So I guess hashtags are often used by people who have similar interests, and they're often used for events. Um, for people to kind of collect things like this. So those are some of the, um, things that got submitted, um, through us on our Facebook, the south east of silence. That's part of the campaign where people, um either themselves or the organisation says what they're doing to break the silence about homophobia, [00:50:00] biphobia and transphobia. Um, yeah, which is cool. Um, and this is just an example of some of the ones that we found by, um by putting in the hashtag um, day of silence. We did that on INSTAGRAM. These are some of the pictures that came up from New Zealand, and these are complete, completely different people. We've never met some of those people. They are in different parts of the country, um, who have who are joining our campaign and taking part in their local communities. Um, and they can then search that [00:50:30] and see who else is taking part. And I think especially as a national organisation, I think social media is something that's so important for us as a way to for people to feel connected and especially for young people, young people in rainbow communities, um, in rural communities, um, as a way for them to feel like they're connected to something bigger and there are other people out there to support them. So, yeah, um, I have Twitter, So, yeah, I wanted to talk a little bit about that connection because I think for a lot of young people, social media is this huge. [00:51:00] Um, connection. Uh, so we, um, have an annual at we we gather young people, old people, mostly young people from all over the country to come to and have about three nights. So, like four days of, um, workshops and and food and just kind of all getting to know each other. And for a lot of people, it's kind of the first time [00:51:30] they've been able to express their their gender, their identity, their just who they are in an open and safe place. So, um, we advertise that through social media, people find out about it through social media, and afterwards, um, all of the people that were at our, um, go into, like a facebook group and they all stay connected So, um, that's the group. And, um, those [00:52:00] are some of the kind of the comments that we get afterwards. People are still posting on from, like, even just a a few days ago. So that top one says I had a mean cry this morning because I realised I had so much support when I came out. Jena Floyd, all I gotta say is, thank you, everyone, for showing me who I truly am. Much love. And the bottom one is quite It's just those kind of comments came up a lot. And so it was also important for us to be able to see the value of our work [00:52:30] and show kind of all of this connectivity with all these young people. And I think even that that might not be recorded. It is leaving a legacy through the connections formed and the friendships made. Um, and it was like that for me in 2012 when I went to, um when I was a when I was a who we participant. Um, and those groups aren't just limited to chef. [00:53:00] Um, they're, like in so many different, um organisations throughout the country. Um, right from Dunedin right up to all, all around. Basically, they're all these different groups. And, um, I think it's just really important to acknowledge, like those connections and how they are being charged through social media and especially people of rural communities feeling more connected to, um, a wider community. Um, but I [00:53:30] have some. As for the gaps, Um, I had some questions so that I don't know the answer to I'm not a social media expert, Um, who has access to social media technology and who doesn't? Does the consum of social media limit its gope? By that, I mean, um, social media is something that's very fast and often kind of superficial. Um, it could be very raw, but it's something that's kind of it's a popularity contest a lot. So the most popular [00:54:00] stuff is generally the most consumed, and people want to put stuff on there that's popular. And I feel like that kind of limits. Sometimes what we can put on social media are our online connections as real or as powerful. I don't really have an answer, but I feel like a lot of people, um, would argue that they aren't and a lot of people would argue that they are, um, as a collaborative field over written and subjectivity. By that, I mean, social media is something that's created by everyone. It's like a hive mind, and [00:54:30] everybody has their own agenda with social media. So when we've got, like, a hive mind full of agendas and subjectivity like, can we really find, like, a truthful narrative in that? Yeah. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you, everybody. I was just really struck by what you said just then, about the most popular stories [00:55:00] being the ones that get retold. And that totally fits in with what was said earlier about, uh, even within the archive, the stuff that's most readily available and most popular gets told over and over. So it's something just to bear in mind that even if we've collected the information, there's still particular narratives that get recycled and reinforced because of its ease of access or its perceived popularity. So, Kilda, we're going to take a break on this section, have [00:55:30] a stretch come outside, have a drink, and we're going to start the next section of tonight already. So this is gonna be cool. The last part of the section. And just so people are aware, part of this, uh, coming to this workshop came out [00:56:00] of two places, one of them was talking about strategic planning. Some of the things that, uh, we need to take leadership for and responsibility for or support, uh within our different communities. And the other part of it is the project is leading with the national Rainbow strategy, and that is about wanting to coordinate our efforts across the country and across our diverse communities. And so, of course, keeping our stories, making sure they're told and recorded and preserved [00:56:30] as a key part of that. So just to flag, I will not be writing this out and sending them to people. It's not gonna happen. This is the process. It's us talking. It's us thinking. And then this gets fed into the groups that will be will do some of this work. And so that's why splitting up issues is so important because some of it it's gonna be really obvious. Key organisations will take on those roles, but others it's as communities and as groups [00:57:00] and people who work together. How do we collectively work on some of those things So we're going to take people who feel an affinity to a particular section. I want you to grab off that section off the wall and find you a space, uh, where you can go back and grab your chairs to come out here. Um, sit around the tables, uh, or or just talk amongst yourself and just think, What are some of the key priorities that need to [00:57:30] happen in that area? And who should do it? Because dealing with homelessness and and visibility of LGBTI Q young people who are homeless, who's responsible for that? We don't have a specific group that does that. So therefore is does it mean we need a new group or are there particular groups who are on the edge of that? Uh, that could work together to progress that as an issue if we think that's a particular priority. [00:58:00] And I would just like to say how how pleased I am that even though this is a particular focus for this evening, how broad everybody has has been in their thinking and again that says to me, how connected are the people in this room and how connected our community is that we're thinking way, way past our little parts of what we do and and how we think so I'm guessing the practical things. People who work in archives, libraries and recording specifically might like to take [00:58:30] this away. We don't have a lot of paper, so write small and as many posters as you like to write a novel. It could be like a whole multicoloured chart because Elizabeth forgot the whiteboard backers. Uh, yes. So I'd like to suggest you grab those ones. Uh, people who are particularly interested in around identity and visibility and voices is probably another natural grouping, Uh, these [00:59:00] ones around representation and how communities can work. And then over here, yeah, overlooking voices. How do we actually get to increase the numbers of voices? So these are clearly overlapping as well, and that's fine. OK, good question. If we can. If we're thinking about areas or [00:59:30] organisations beyond just the LGBTI organisations, can we point them out? We think that, uh, that it's essential either government or or or you know, United Nations should get on to this. If we think that that's a that should be definitely like other groups who are not in the room and other organisations and agencies because then that that sends a signal about who we need to partner with, who we need to [01:00:00] put pressure on. Absolutely. Definitely. So just I would like people to come over and even grab some things off here, form a little group, and it could be completely random. That's all good. And just have a think about what we actually what are some of the great creative [01:00:30] ways that we can start addressing? Given what we already do so well in our community, how do we use the systems? We've all got set up the frameworks we have. How do we, uh, yeah, start sorting this out. Fine. OK, well, this group of, um, archivists and librarian took those kind of issues. Um, [01:01:00] not not solely There's There's sort of more policy and inclusiveness things, but, um, we sort of group them into the need for, um, preservation of digital records of the communities and of individuals. Um, so long term preservation and how we work this out. And then, um, archiving of social media, which is an ongoing headache for many communities all over the world. But, um, so that's something that's that's being worked on. And we want to keep [01:01:30] in touch with the work that other groups are doing, um, different sorts of access to LGBTI, Q plus et cetera, including online access. So that was all the different ways of making material, and that's in our archives in some way, or being contributed accessible to different communities, which may be physically or it may be online. And [01:02:00] one thing about the one sort of, um, sub group, I guess, was that it's important, for example, especially relating to social media is to keep records of passwords and so on, which, um, is like we were comparing it to, you know, um, PO box keys and bank account signatories and all those sort of things that groups have to keep a track of keeping having, um, really good documentation of all of these processes. Um, [01:02:30] and there was a specific, uh, proposal for, um, a queer digital working group to meet, start meeting regularly, which has been discussed before, so hopefully we can make it happen. And then there were more, um, policy things about making ends in particular, um, more responsive to connecting with younger generations and the perception of Legans is only for lesbians [01:03:00] and gays. So those are issues to be dealt with. And then there was other kind of ethical issues that were mentioned and, um, maintaining the continua continuity of collecting. So it was There's this. So this was all about practicalities and policies of archiving and preserving the material that record our records, our existence now, and contributes to all [01:03:30] the legacies we want to leave. Awesome. Thank you. Can I just say Yeah, which is, uh, about, um, connecting up the dots beyond our known world of collectors and archivists through to the other museums and other institutions, places, universities and stuff like that and have things that's right, making those known well and sometimes and supporting [01:04:00] them to interpret them too. Yeah, Papa te papa Y places does make an effort to interpret. Whereas some places don't even start to identify things as of interest researchers into same relationships or whatever. However, we want to express it. Awesome. Thank you Came in. So these homelessness and disability were areas that [01:04:30] were looked at, and I guess these are wider society issues as well as LGBTI issues and the, um and really, it was just a concern about keeping the profile, raising the profile of of those things, um, improving the services, particularly for people with disabilities. Um, but the other thing was actually raising the quality of our life expectations. In terms of, you know, there there's life beyond [01:05:00] being hopeless, maybe in down and out if they're homeless or stuff like that or they're in that situation because financially, economically, the world's against them, that type of thing. So it's raising society's expectations of what we should be should expect. And I think it's probably us supporting our gay lesbian, um, welfare groups which exist in the community that you know they are there and encouraging [01:05:30] them, supporting them, working for them or getting involved. And the other issue was burnout, which would sort of changed around a little bit. But this was recognising people who work really hard in the community for the work that they they given. I guess the priorities were ensuring that we all take care of each other, um, each other's health risk sharing the load. Have fun, I guess might actually be quite good. But also, [01:06:00] um, having clear visions and values around the work that you're doing so that it has real meaning. And you know what? You're focusing on the not so much the burn out, but the one before, which is services and that for old people. I don't think that, um, that's something that's really had much work done on it yet. And it's another sort of end of of the sort of is can [01:06:30] be can be isolated. And it's an area where it's very difficult to get even older people interested. They they seem to want to shut their, uh, we we tried in Rainbow Wellington. There was a member of the board who really tried to get sort of an sort of an elderly gay project up, he said. Whenever he spoke to people, they just did not want to know. And it wasn't just the young ones that that said that. So that's part of the part of the whole battle. People [01:07:00] want to close their eyes, and there is to the problem until it probably hits them. And thank you, can I just just wise if someone's made a suggestion to add something, could you please whoever had that she physically add that so we don't lose any of that Killed her. Um, I'm Adrian. Um, and our our group talked mostly about infighting within our community. Um, and I think [01:07:30] this actually relates a bit to the burnout, one that just came up. But, um, just that, particularly for those of us who are working in organisations working in groups working to create events um, that's the place that I'm speaking from. Um, there's just, uh maybe I'll just tell a personal my personal story, but, um, so and I'll throw Karen in it, too. So Karen and I run, um, are part of the organising team running Wellington pride and down in the park. [01:08:00] And so a lot of what we do in particular is trying to represent put on events every year to represent the entire of the community that everyone in the community is there LGBT QI a and, you know, every letter possible, the new emerging ones that are coming all the time. And we're trying really hard to represent all of the diversity cultural age. Um, you know so many different things. And in that space, it's really difficult because a lot of groups come together [01:08:30] and are are fighting each other. There's a lot of fighting that goes on, um, and not just disagreements, but really kind of attacking each other. And there's a lot of emotional stuff happening. Um, and so we just talked a lot about that in our group. So what What are some of the solutions or suggestions for for dealing with that, Um, and some We talked a lot about what we could learn from the past. And, um, this isn't a new issue that we're We have factions or different, [01:09:00] you know, divisions in our community. But at various points in time, we've come together. We've crossed those those divisions and come together to fight against a common cause, say, for homosexual law reform or different things. Um, like marriage equality where we have these big big issues. So it's kind of like a unifying issue, and we were just talking about what? Maybe we need something like that now. And what is that one unifying issue? That or maybe multiple. Um, but what are those unifying issues for [01:09:30] our entire community? So we didn't have an answer to that, but I'm just putting that out to the room. Um, and Maybe that would help us try to start working together a bit more. Um, but we also talked about maybe having regular conferences, Um, actually calling it out, calling out the fact that we are There is a lot of this fighting going on. Um, and maybe we need to find different ways to listen to each other better and have safer spaces. And so have a space specifically for [01:10:00] that on a regular basis, maybe or once a year or whoever redirect the energy. So, actually, maybe it's OK that there's all obviously, it's OK that there's different views. Um, but how do we have a safe space for that to happen and learn about each other as the community evolves over time and changes? Yeah, because, I mean, we're talking here about all the different issues. We just happen to get this one. But all the other issues we want people to be able to come together and work together. Uh, and so that's not happening. That well, [01:10:30] uh, you know often. So what are some of the solutions to that? Um and yeah, and then this contributes to burn out. All of this stuff contributes to burn out and taking care of each other, I think is a really good thing. But often we're not taking care of each other. So how do we address that? Um, again, that's a question for the room. Oh, and there was some stuff around visibility and just, you know, who's when we're making really difficult decisions? Um, for instance, [01:11:00] another personal example. Or from the work that we do around, um, cancelling movie fundraisers, for instance. You know, this is something that we we often talk about. We'll have a fundraiser with the movie, and then you have people who say, Oh, we don't like the way that our group is being represented in that film, for instance, And then we as a committee sit around and debate it for hours. We don't just make that decision lightly. We sit around and we go OK, which way do we go with this decision? Um, and often there it's disagreements, [01:11:30] dissenting views. Some people will be unhappy if you cancel, and some people will be unhappy if you show it. So who's who do you go with in that case? And so we often end up going well, Actually, it's the people who have less power who have, um, are more vulnerable and have less visibility in our community who we end up siding with often, um, not siding with. But we go with, you know, that decision goes that way. But that's just in our our committee. But, you know, so there's just a lot. I think those [01:12:00] discussions need to happen at a wider level rather than just in our little, you know, small com committee. But maybe we should all be having those discussions as a community so that we've got these different opinions and experiences. Let's name it and then do something more positive with them. You need to just right naming it. And can I also add restorative practise? Yes. [01:12:30] And our last group. Oh, your new speakers. If you'd like to introduce yourself as well, just your name. And she came to, um so really, we were almost not quite a group of people along the way, but anyway, um, this was really my interest. There was sort of some very diverse things that I've pulled [01:13:00] in here, and so we were really talking about, um because some of them were about, um really What we don't know about the community, so it's about the doing the research. So there's the research that you're going to see, you know, all the all the things that you're going to record. And, um so, yeah, there's the oral histories of different groups. But there's also other social, uh, social research and you know, so even so, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence, you know, and comments that people make about the community, but that has not been researched properly [01:13:30] in many areas. I'm sure you're aware, you know, just looking something that I saw, um was reading about the other day that how little research had been done on suicide for, um, young or all, um, gay people. And even though it's anecdotally known that there's a lot, it's very, very hard to find that out because it's not recorded at the time. And there's all those kinds of, you know, so the research wouldn't just be purely research. It would be it would have practical, um, outcomes for gay people, [01:14:00] and that's it's who's doing the research. I mean, it's not really done through organisations doing it as individuals or, you know, through university or whatever and I don't know if I just put a big question mark about groups being involved in research. Couple of reasons, you know, not sure about the funding either, you know, as to where they come. But, I mean, it's the basis of, um, you building up a a big picture, Really? A full picture of the gay community. [01:14:30] Oh, thank you so much. Well, thank you, everybody, for your contributions. And and we believe that a lot of what we've captured in the stickers and on the papers is a type of a guide to where we're going to keep moving. But also, the conversations that you're having in the room, we believe will be part of what happens after this and how things develop in the future. [01:15:00] Uh, so a final thank you. And we hope you had fun this evening. Or at least be sure that you actually did some work and it was really valuable. Uh, as I say, we're not necessarily going to write back and report directly that this is an informal group of people who happen to be able to come tonight and were interested that there are many other people are going to feed in to different parts of the strategy. But but for sure Ends is going to be continuing [01:15:30] to work on this To for sure we'll be continuing to work on this and and through that, working with all the organisations, because I just want to do a quick recap of actually the organisations that are represented. And not necessarily that you're here with your head on to speak on their behalf, but just who's in the room? So I would just like to, uh, do a final work round to finish off. Uh so you know, and and so I'm on the peak body for youth development. [01:16:00] Uh, so I'd like to just do a quick work round of organisations um, and gay archives Violent Wellington Lesbian website. Uh, lesbian and gay are guys. It's, um really the, uh my radio programme cap gag which I do on Coast access radio, uh, Wellington Pride and out in the park, [01:16:30] uh, like Wellington Pride and Lesbian radio show. The gay fathers group and myself personally volunteer for games. I'm just an individual, but I I've become a recent negative volunteer. Thank you so much. And that's also I just wonder if we could do a quick to finish things off. And that's our night.
This page features computer generated text of the source audio. It may contain errors or omissions, so always listen back to the original media to confirm content.
Tags