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.
Um I'm Morgan and I came from Australia, and then I moved to New Zealand. Now in Auckland. Um, yeah. Are you part of any of the quit youth groups? Uh, yes, I am a part of Rainbow Youth. Why have you come to the conference? Uh, because I run a group with Rainbow Youth and I want to be a youth worker when I've finished studying. So coming here was just a good idea, I guess. What are some of the biggest issues you see facing, um, our rainbow communities in New Zealand? [00:00:30] Um, definitely funding would be one of the biggest ones. Also lack of education in the school system and around the just general community of, um, Auckland. Do you see any solutions to that, Or have you heard any ideas over the Ah, yes. I've heard the Ram Ram Youth is doing a big care package type of thing for gender, which will be sent around once it's all done. And that sounds so exciting. Cool. Why do you think it's important? Um, to have events like this and be at this conference? [00:01:00] Definitely for networking and just making friends and finding out who's what and what they can do and who can help and how you can help and finding out that you've got your own skills there, too. Have you had any inspirational moment? Um, yes, I just did. The trans and intersex human rights, um, workshop, which was awesome. Um, so many great ideas. So many people. Uh, yeah. I'm Bella. Um, I came up from Wellington. [00:01:30] Um, I'm openly transgender. Um, yeah. Why did you come to the conference? Um, because there's some really good speakers, and the Youth leadership Conference and youth leadership conferences are always really good. So the speakers and yeah, what do you want to get out of the company? Um, new skills and knowledge. And, um, I wanted to talk to the politicians with the, um [00:02:00] with and see what their policies were and what sort of their thoughts were and stuff. What do you see as some of the biggest issues facing, um, Rainbow people in New Zealand? Um, for transgender kids in schools, schools just aren't safe at the moment. Um, schools think that they're supporting students when they're not really their, um, idea of support isn't what it's not. It's not great. And yeah, What solutions do you see for that? Um, [00:02:30] I see there needs to be a group of people and transgender students, um, talking about their experiences and where they where the schools have gone wrong. And, um, and how we can go about resolving these issues. And there is always a simpler situation, but the schools just get lazy and don't want to explore those different options. So why is it important that this conference is happening? Um, it's important that this conference is happening [00:03:00] because it gets those discussions up and running and then especially because there's people from the US. So then it just links us a little bit more to the US and getting these people from the island. So we're all sort of linking with these big discussions. So, have you had any inspirational moments? Um, just meeting new people, just constantly meeting new people all the time. And you think you've met everyone, but then you just meet more people. You know, I'm [00:03:30] a youth mentor for Waikato Queer Youth. We're based in Hamilton. Uh, we have we are a support network for, um, queer and queer friendly youth. Um, under 25 or 30 I think it's 30 now, actually, Um and I'm fairly new. I'm just trying to learn the ropes and find out a bit more about the issues facing our community. And so I've come to the conference and yeah, it's pretty pretty awesome. Cool. What do you want to get out of the conference? Um, a better understanding of where our community community is heading and what I can do about [00:04:00] it. What do you see as some of the biggest issues facing our community? Uh, the glossing over of the the TT Q I of of the the spectrum and the other, the other identities that aren't actually sort of recognised in that. What solutions do you see to that, um, getting out there and talking about it. Really? Um, why do you think the conference is important? Because it brings together a lot of people for networking, and, uh, a lot of people are learning new things. Um, I wouldn't know about several [00:04:30] things or me. All of these amazing people if I hadn't have come here. Have you had any inspirational moment? Um, yeah. Listening yesterday to Sam was pretty incredible. He his story was fantastic. Seeing coming from one person to thousands was was incredible. I'd love to affect that kind of change. Cool. Can you tell us a little bit about what Sam talked about? So he talked about the how the earth quakes. Uh, a couple of years ago, they created a student [00:05:00] army and brought together a whole lot of people with a common cause. Um, and created, um, this network of to, um, help out and create and no commitment. Just come and pick up a shovel and a wheelbarrow and day in, day out, and you just just help. Why did you come to the conference? I come here because I see a lot of opportunities here. Um, sharing with other friends here. This is the first time that I heard a lot of term, uh, terminologies for [00:05:30] other kinds. No offence, but yeah. So what have you got out of it? Um, some some people, I mean, some friends here we have, we have kind of like a similar issue when we start to be, like, different from other people. Different in a good way. Not a bad way. What are some of the biggest issues you see facing our rainbow community. Um, maybe another [00:06:00] because, um, in the Pacific, Uh, especially for gay and lesbian. It's really, really, really hard to to tell people that Oh, I'm gay. Uh, I'm lesbian because of our culture and tradition are very strong, um, and also Christianity. So it is really hard. People might think that I might say, um, bad stuff. They might discriminate us. And you know what I mean? Do you see any solutions? [00:06:30] Maybe we can talk to our family members sharing them exactly who we are telling them what we are and what we want to do. This is how we live life. Why do you think this conference is important? I think it's important because it is. This is the first time that, um, gay lesbian, whatever kind of minor, um, diversity [00:07:00] actually come out. And it's good in a way so that people will know there are other people that have their own needs and they want to live life that like them. Um, And have you had any inspirational moments while you've been here? The only thing that inspires me here is, um, as from the Pacific, we I believe we finally have a chance to talk with other sisters or brothers here sharing them our story. I believe that ours is different [00:07:30] from them. We have different needs. So it's about time for, uh, for for or whatever people call us to share to share our sisters and brothers here who we are. This is what we do. And we are proud to be like this. Um uh, um I live [00:08:00] in Auckland, and I was born in, um and I'm with Rainbow Youth. Why did you come to the conference? Well, I just moved to Auckland recently and just got involved in Rainbow Youth. Um, and I saw that this was coming up, and I really love conferences and meetings and things. And so I was, Yeah, pretty excited about it. What did you get out of the conference? Oh, well, I kind of realised [00:08:30] how isolated I was and how all the ideas that I've been having, like by myself that all like happening like in community. Um, and I and I felt connected, Like to the past as well. I think I kind of found my calling, actually, um what do you see as some of the biggest issues facing our rainbow communities. Um, well, I'm quite interested in the attitude of churches towards, um [00:09:00] um LGBT Q. I, um, people, Um uh, so that's what, like, that's my focus. I wanna, you know, for at least us to at least be able to come out in church and know that we're not going to be like ostracised or anything, because that's probably a lot of where the homophobia is in New Zealand Now, in the churches, Do you see any solutions to that? [00:09:30] Um, well, I'm only just starting to come out in my own church. I'm Catholic. Um, I think that that once I start like, being open about who I am, then like, I think things will start happening from from that. Why do you think this conference is important? Well, obviously, you need to get people together, um, talking about solutions in different areas because, you know, there's always, like, different people [00:10:00] on a team and like different problems and but like like they said at the conference, like and I see this also that one of the big problems in New Zealand is you have, like, services here and there, but it, like, really depends on where you grow up and like, I didn't really have anything when I was at school. Um, and it's kind of similar with, like with, like, gay Christians as well. You know, like you need to have something consistent like throughout [00:10:30] the country so that, like young, gay people like, can look and see where to go and, like, not just be a matter of chance. Um, and did you have any inspirational moments that stood out? Well, I just said so many inspirational moments that I Yeah, I couldn't even really pinpoint anything. Um, I have links to a few Polynesian roots, but majority, it's just Melanesian for me. [00:11:00] I refer to myself as a as a young, transgender woman, feminist activist, gender advocate and a woman's human rights defender. I also refer to myself as an aspiring criminal, constitutional human rights lawyer and a politician. Why have you come to the conference? This conference plays a pivotal role for the movement, not just back at home in Fiji, but for the Pacific. It links solidarity, and it also provides the the chance to channel discussions and to [00:11:30] localise in information to best suit the various constituents and to work on the communication strategies to best, um, build capacity and boost the movement we are in right now. What do you see as some of the biggest issues facing our rainbow community? There's a lot of intersectionality. Um, there's also a lot of, um um funding, um, problems. And, uh, I think it's very important in in youth leadership forums that young people are asked [00:12:00] to sort of be part of drafting proposal, um, mechanisms. And there should be some sort of, um, manual that should allow young people to utilise and and best work on it to improve the scenario and especially the risk management and quitting, which is the main part. Another big issue is the internalised homophobia that I see. And I think it's important that the gay movement needs to start standing together. And if they're speaking the language, they have to speak [00:12:30] it in unity. Um, because of this spectrum we're in, there's a need to to just identify people self as who they are with respect to their personal security. Why do you think this conference is important? This conference paves the way for young people that identify themselves as leaders. It provides the platform to take ownership, to allow people to exercise their civil and political rights. I mean, not just to speak out, but to be more articulate. [00:13:00] And the one reason I say this is because a lot of times in the gay movement, a lot of people are coming out and expressing themselves through hate, speech and freedom of opinion and the right to speak is not about hate speeches. There are ways that we need to strategize and communicate the information we want to disseminate, and that should be done in a very peaceful transition. Um, I am Tony. Obviously I come from Darville Northland, but I am working for Rainbow Youth right now in Auckland, and I'm [00:13:30] having an absolute blast, and it's the best thing ever. Yeah. Why did you come to the conference? Um, I came to the conference because I think of myself as a leader in this community, and I really, really, really love affecting change and being with people who are inspiring and awesome and similar to me. And it has just been an absolutely amazing experience, and I can't even explain it. It's so cool. What did you get out of the comfort colour. Um, well, I, I, like, cried at Welby's, um, speech about [00:14:00] our history. It was just so moving. I'm getting, like, tearing up talking about it. So I was just so blown away by everyone's passion and by the amount of willingness to act that's in our community and how I've always known that us young folk, you know, our generation has has got the, you know, the drive to do this stuff. And it's just amazing to see it actually there. Yeah, what do you see as some of the biggest issues facing our rainbow communities? Definitely. Like making sure that our, um, trans, [00:14:30] um, section is is and our gender queer and our you know, that they're really represented really well as strongly as our lesbian, gay, bisexual handex, um, members as well and also connecting with and making sure that our Pacific Maori people in our community are really, really represented. That's that's definitely one of the big aims that's come out of the conference for me. Do you see any solutions to that learning change? Um, education, not being scared to to say you don't [00:15:00] know and like asking people to share their info and to Yeah, really? Just collaborate. Yeah. Why do you think this conference is important? Like I said before, it brings together amazing, diverse group of people with, uh, one really one cause, which is to make sure that our future is better than what happened in the past. So I think that's so important and so amazing. Yeah. Um and have you had any inspirational moments that have really stood out? Just, uh the well we thing comes. So his [00:15:30] talk just blew me away and really made me humbled and proud to be part of this community and to be caring for a legacy that comes from pain and suffering and is going towards pride and joy and rainbows and glitter. Yeah. Thank you very much. Very welcome. Who are you and where did you come from? I'm Duncan. I get to work at Rainbow Youth as well as the general manager, which is awesome. I got involved with Rain Youth when I moved to Auckland 4.5 years ago. And before that, I was involved [00:16:00] in uni and Hamilton pride and stuff like that in my university city. What do you see as some of the biggest issues facing our rainbow communities Just going to interact with Tony. So definitely access to health care and mental health care for sexually diverse gender, diverse individuals and sex, but also safety and education and schools, which I think is a thing which came up again and again. And while we've perhaps done more work in that area than, um, we have with the health foundation, um, still [00:16:30] so much to do. I am Zach. I'm an artist, and I am from Auckland. So why did you come to the conference? Um, I came because I was really interested in hearing a lot of the speakers who were on the agenda and that. And, Yeah, I liked a lot of the topics that were going to be discussed. I thought it was sort of an important, important thing to expand [00:17:00] knowledge in this area. What did you get out of it? Um, I learned about a lot of gaps in my own personal knowledge, particularly that are, like, really important to a queer understanding of New Zealand life or something like that. Like, I've I realised how little I know about Pacifica LGBT Q I and I really want to change that. And so that's sort of the [00:17:30] most important part for me. Um, what do you see as some of the biggest issues facing our rainbow communities? Um, safety and visibility both hand in hand. You can't have safety because there's not enough visibility and vice versa. So, yeah, that's that. Those are my two main priorities when it comes to sort of dealing with Rainbow shoes. Do you have any solutions? Um, [00:18:00] not not immediate ones. Just being like my my biggest interest or like solution, I guess, is to be prepared to learn and to be prepared to be wrong and things that you already understand or think you already understand. Um, why do you think the conference is important? Um, it's really important to get these discussions happening up and down the country rather than just in single [00:18:30] places. So it's really good that the like amazing minds up in Auckland are talking to the amazing mines down in Wellington and Christchurch and and everywhere else that people and also like it's so incredible that this included like an international audience as well. And people from the Pacific Islands and stuff are over for this, like sharing all the amazing and unique experiences everyone's had.
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