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Kia ora tātou. Welcome, everyone. My name's Kevin Haunui. I'm the chair of LAGANZ, and it's a real pleasure to have you here tonight. So my role, one of my roles will be as an emcee, and there will be [00:03:00] another emcee joining me as well throughout the evening, and Will over there, Will Hanson, will be, uh, uh, doing some, some work as well. But out of the ashes, celebrating queer histories. You know, it's a celebration of what we have achieved. And it's also time to consider all that we have yet to achieve. There's a whole lot going on, um, tonight. You will know that there's a line up of speakers, as you can see. And we thank [00:03:30] Te Whanau Whanau for opening our hui, um, tonight. And we also thank our speakers who have, uh, generously come along this evening. And we thank the National Library, in particular, um, the, uh, engagement. Team and the Alexandra Turnbull library, uh, for the support and the, uh, in helping this event, um, to be here to happen. So, welcome. So it is a time of celebration. So, [00:04:00] you know, who would've thought that, uh, out of the ashes, an event that happened in the. And the gay archives, um, in 1985, would have, uh, come to this type of event. So, the, um, the Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand, Te Pūranga was born as a trust in 1992. [00:04:30] And so, this celebration is about marking four queer anniversaries in Aotearoa, to celebrate all that we have achieved in the last 30 years. to celebrate, um, gay, uh, the gay revolution, I'll just put it that way, to celebrate also one of the historical, um, communities in Wellington, the Dorian Society. And we have speakers here tonight to, to [00:05:00] speak to those issues. And we're also going to celebrate a zine that, uh, is being launched as well. So, We have up next is our first lineup of speakers, and I'll just introduce them, uh, in terms of their, their bios. I may not read all the bios speakers, but, um, just, uh, just to let people know the order of things. So Elizabeth Kerekere, Dr. Elizabeth Kerekere, MP [00:05:30] Dr. Elizabeth Kerekere, is going to speak about the importance of celebrating and preserving Takatākui histories. Elizabeth is of whānau a kai, Ngāti Oneone, Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Munguwhakāta, Ngāi Tamanuhiri, identifies as she and her, was born in Gisborne, where she lives with her wife, Olufa Aiono, the dog, Indiana, and cat. Havana and Chicago. So for those of us that know Elizabeth, [00:06:00] Elizabeth has been focused on community issues for the last 40 years. So it really is a, a pleasure, um, to have Elizabeth here tonight following Elizabeth. We have, uh, Linda Evans. Linda is a, um, curator, uh, uh, of um. of Lagans, Te Pūranga Tikataapui o Aotearoa, and has been working with the Lagans curatorial group since the 1990s. Linda's involved in women's liberation feminist and lesbian [00:06:30] feminist groups since the 70s, and she was part of the campaign for homosexual law reform in the 1970s and 80s. A long time presenter for the Wellington Lesbian Radio Programme from 1984 to 1987. So, and Hauora Sturgeon. An oral history curator for the Alexandra Turnbull Library as well. So Linda is going to speak about the history of Lagan's and 30th and 45th anniversaries and some of the challenges also [00:07:00] that Lagan's faces. Following Linda. Uh, Chris Sirkelly, Chris, uh, Ngapuhi, Ngati Roanui, is the Chief Librarian of the Alexandra Turnbull Library, and has been since 2007, and he's going to talk about the importance of the relationship with the Turnbull Library. Um, He's an author, his work's published in Te Reo Māori and English, and his latest book is Te Kūpenga, [00:07:30] 101 Stories of Aotearoa from Turnbull. That's been co edited with Michael Keith and published by Massey University. And I'm sure Chris will also just highlight The future of the Turnbull as well as an institution. Um, following those three speakers, Will will get up to introduce the next lot of things. I thought, um, tonight that, uh, hopefully it's not too evident, but I did, I was in a [00:08:00] bit of a mad rush, so if there's blood splatter all over the place, I'm sorry about my, about my, um, shaving inabilities, uh, these days. Nō reira, it is really, um, good to have you here. Please give it up for the speakers when they are speaking. Unfortunately, there won't be a time to engage with the speakers in terms of questions during the session, but after all of the speakers have spoken and we go out into the lobby, you may want to [00:08:30] engage with them there. Elizabeth. Kia ora koutou katoa. I tautoko ana ngā mihi kua mihi a ki ngā tanga whenua o tēnei rohe. Tēnā rā koutou katoa. Mihi mai, mihi mai ki a koutou kua tāi mai nei ki tēnei pō. Nau mai, haro mai. So wonderful to see you all here. I always say when I look into a crowd like this, it doesn't matter what. rainbow [00:09:00] event it is. I know that some of the people I love the most in this world are in this audience. So kia ora to all of you who are close to us and have been doing this work for a long, long time. I want to talk about kupu. You will know that this is Te Yesterday we celebrated 50 years of the anniversary of the Te Reo Māori petition being presented to Parliament. And so, absolutely.[00:09:30] And inspired always, as I am, all these years of work, over half of that, I've worked with Kevin, uh, and being able to be part of Te Whanau Whanau and, uh, the tautoko and the strength that our whānau bring to all of our events is something I'll never, never stop being proud of. But the waiata we did today, uh, the first waiata was written to welcome, uh, Te Māori. when it came back to these shores, so hoki, hoki [00:10:00] mai, come back to us. And I think about a word like whakatapui is something that our ancestors gave us and it's reinforced in the second song they said whakarongo mai, listen to the words that we say, speak the words that you know. And when you speak them, they're not just words, individual little things. They have stories behind them. They have lives behind them. So when we take a word like takatāpui, that meant intimate companion of the [00:10:30] same sex as it was in the tiny, if you see the little dictionary, the original Māori dictionaries, they use the most commonly spoken words. at that time in te reo and put it in, takatapui was in there. And so we know that it was a normal part of life and many other ways we know that. But when we take a word like that and we bring it to today and we use it to embrace all of our whānau who are Māori with our diverse genders, sexualities and our sex [00:11:00] characteristics, and that includes however, however you want to identify yourself. And we remember. All of the parts of who we are have always existed, and a word like this connects us to them. It's our whakapapa, it's our strength, but it also connects us to saying, if Whakatāpui was a normal part of life and accepted, we could assume that when any of our whānau from across the world came to this country, they're welcome and they're a normal part of our lives.[00:11:30] And it is on that basis, that's what gives us the mana, that's what gives us the power to say, This is the acceptance of who we are, the normality of who we are, the absolute incredible fabulousness of who we are, is actually built into this land. And every time we have a Hui like this, we reclaim that space. We keep making the space bigger. We keep inviting more people into it and more people feel comfortable until the state where more people are surprised [00:12:00] it's not there. This is our land. We are all welcome here, we're all part of it. And just the final thing about collecting our stories, te whanawhana. We're here to tell our stories, build our communities and leave a legacy. This is what Leggins is about, holding that legacy safely for all of us. So recording events like this, making sure we know they happen, the physical things we [00:12:30] create and making sure that all the things we do online are still captured. So the record of them a hundred years from now. There'll be decisions, things that happen this week in our lives at these events. A hundred years from now, one of our ancestors, one of our descendants is going to be looking at that and say, that was my nanny, that was my uncle. That was my non binary whanau that were there doing that thing. And as I close, I want to acknowledge Chris, when you come up to [00:13:00] speak later, I was going through a lot of my old papers. And I found the, uh, Indigenous Librarians Forum, the first, I believe, of its kind in the world. And Chris was one of the people who organized that. I still have all the papers. I was at that hui. And we cannot underestimate how important it is when we stand up, and no matter that no one else has done it before, no matter that some people say you shouldn't do it, That [00:13:30] people stand up and do it anyway. I always say find your mates, get the people around you, and do it anyway. Go for it. And um, just nō reira, thank you all for being here tonight. Whakapapui is one word, there are many others. Whakawahine, tangata ira tāne, uh, there are many many more words we want to find from our past and we will create and develop them so that they're real for us now. Uh, and this is the place that holds the journey. [00:14:00] of that discovery, the journey of who we are and what we form together. Kia ora. Kia ora koutou. Um, as Kevin said, my name's Linda Evans and I'm part of the curatorial team of Laggans. Um, I'm going to talk a little bit about our early history, a few glimpses of our collections along the way, and then a little about the challenges we face in the future. [00:14:30] Some of them already referred to by Elizabeth. So, um, Laggans, Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa, was born out of the National Gay Rights Coalition. So it has an activist birth and continues with many activist collections, and at times in its history has been, um, very much a part of the activism. It, um, the National Gay Rights Coalition, which, um, [00:15:00] was formed around 1976, had, um, was one of the few organizations to, um, really seriously try to create a national organization. And it was very committed to the idea of resources and the sharing of resources and, um, archives. And one of its, um, uh, uh, members set up Um, what became, um, the Lesbian and Gay Rights Resource Centre. Um, but it started out being the [00:15:30] NGRC's own, um, resources and papers. Uh, but then, um, collections of other organisations papers were added to that. The reason that I've put, um, Glenda Gale here, which some of you, who some of you may know, um, Is that, um, the organization was able to get, um, two PEP workers, which is kind of a feature of a time of high unemployment, it was a project employment, um, [00:16:00] workers, and you could group community groups could get people to come and work on particular projects and Glenda organized um, those first filing cabinets full of material and I remember visiting her in um, the NGRC room in number six, Bulcott Street, which was a building of many activists, many activist groups, um, the Women's Centre, um, the Gay Community Centre, Hekate Women's Health Centre, the Lesbian Centre, Amnesty International, a lot of, many, many groups had [00:16:30] rooms and premises there. Once, the thing about the archive also is that it's always had attention from librarians, and it's had a lot of voluntary time and effort put in. by people who've had some professional training, as well as a lot of volunteers. So, um, this is, uh, the second, um, organizer [00:17:00] of the archives, Chris Masters. He was the librarian of the fire service. And, um, and so he organized the room. There was a room in the basement that, um, where they expanded into. And, uh, he was also, and became at that time a collective. Um, and he was particularly keen on providing, um. Services to, um, other people and groups. Now this is, um, a little, this is when it moved upstairs to its own premises, in the, on the second floor of 6 [00:17:30] Bulcott Street. Um, and Paul Smith, who's over on the far side, he was the one who, who did first set up the collection. Um, then there's Bill Parkinson, who became the, um, curator after, uh, Chris Masters. And then you might recognize. Or you might not, Roger Swanson, who was working at that time and he's worked on, uh, with the archives all the way through. So, um, that's when they just moved into the new room and were setting it [00:18:00] up. And this is, uh, one corner of it once it was set up. So, now Unfortunately, it, um, did really well all during law reform, did really well at the, um, at the beginning of the HIV AIDS epidemic, um, produced a lot of resources and supported, um, activities, supported lobbying, you know, was really, really, um, an incredible resource [00:18:30] for many communities. But just after the Homosexual Law Reform Bill had passed in July 86 and came into force in August 86, there, 11 September, there was an arson attack. And this is Phil Parkinson a day or so afterwards when he was allowed to go in to have a look at what had happened. So this is the event that Out of the Ashes refers to. And this graffiti makes it clear it wasn't a random attack. Um, it was a building with a lot of people coming in [00:19:00] and out of, so you might have said, oh, could have just happened, but it was really clear it was who it was targeted at. So, um, Phil worked at the Turnbull Library at the time, and many of his colleagues helped with, um, the salvage. of the collections, um, was quite good. A lot of material was singed, some material was actually destroyed, but, um, a lot could be salvaged. And then, um, and the Turnbull Library [00:19:30] offered, um, a floor, part of a floor at one of its, the buildings that then occupied, because, um, It wasn't at that point in this building, and it was called the Ford Building, and then an arrangement was made between the group, the Lesbian and Gay Rights Community Centre, as it was still called, Resource Centre, as it was still called, and the Turnbull Library. And then you can see, in 1988, the name, you can see the first time the name, [00:20:00] the Lesbian, um, and Gay Archives of New Zealand is in there. And the first two curators, Sarah Knox and Phil Parkinson, are there as well. So, um, after that time, um, as, um, Kevin referred to, there was a further Um, trust document created in 1992, there have been various agreements between the trust and the library, but it's, the archive has had secure, um, and safe housing [00:20:30] here, um, in the, in this building, as, um, part of the, in the same conditions the Turnbull Libraries, the collections have, uh, and it's also, um, had the opportunity to provide services for, um, all the hours that the libraries open. This, um, was the definition, um, this is kind of referring back to some of the things already raised by Elizabeth, um, in the Laggans, the last revision of the constitution in 2009. Kind of looks simple, [00:21:00] um, straightforward, but not really, because we all know how many different communities we're part of, um, how many conflicts. There are, um, how the, um, intersections of race, class, ability, sex, gender, cut across these. So, anyway, um, the aim is really that, that, um, LAGAN serves a network. of communities and [00:21:30] alliances who want to be part of, um, uh, having material looked after in leg ins and want to take part in that. Um, but we don't, um, deny the complexity. And in fact, we welcome it because it's not simple. And there's so many issues in all of our lives. Um, as well as, um, you know, all the things that have gone well, all the fun, all the friendship, lovers, ex lovers, all of those parts of our culture that we represent, that we do also want to represent all the difficulties.[00:22:00] And this was, um, this is some of the objectives that have been there for a long time, um, so it's like, uh, so it's a repository for both the, people, individuals and organizations and also to make the material widely available for research, for activism, um, for creative work. Now, um, I've kind of lost track of the time. Who is the timekeeper? So I'm the timekeeper and thank you. Have I [00:22:30] finished? Have I? Yeah, so okay. The further glimpses of the collections, we'll have to just wait for another event, I'm sorry. But I, um, will just give a little outline of what we're embarking on now. Because Um, that's kind of, it's quite an exciting time and we're hoping to commission a digital archive platform within about three or five years, which is a really large undertaking, [00:23:00] but it does mean we'll be able to deal with, um, material that's created in digital form, which is contemporary kind of collecting and digitize some of the, um, analog material from the past. We definitely need the support of experts and volunteers. And we also, of course, will need quite a lot of money. So we need the support of funders and of donors who might like to even give us some money because the operating costs will be more than our current operating costs. [00:23:30] Our short term priorities are to develop our metadata and information describing the collections, and this is They're really well advanced with um, the catalog cards having been transferred into digital form and a really fantastic international exercise of a transcribe a thon where hours and hours and hours of voluntary work went into checking and correcting those digitized cards. It's just a fantastic start. Um, then also, The next step is to [00:24:00] develop processes to collect and store digital materials. So this is digitally created material. And then the last one is to, um, update, um, the website and offer an online catalog. So we want to acknowledge all the volunteers that have helped so far. And the Rainbow Wellington, the Rainbow Wellbeing, sorry, legacy fund, which has contributed towards the beginning of this project. We really welcome all contributions, so please get in touch. And [00:24:30] equally, please get in touch if there's material you want to offer the library, the archive, sorry, or you want to, um, you know, take part in any of the, any of its work, or you want to research using its collections. Thank you. In 1985 my auntie answered a knock on the door. It was a Salvation Army person seeking [00:25:00] signatures for a petition opposing the decriminalization of homosexuality. Of course she signed and when she realized I had overheard the whole exchange she explained. A little sheepishly that she didn't really mind it, she just didn't want it to spread any further. It meaning the spread of [00:25:30] homosexuality. This was a time when a new disease called AIDS was entering public consciousness. Indeed in some social circles the joke of the day was. What does gay stand for? G A Y. Got AIDS yet. As a young man, not long [00:26:00] past teenage, and of undeclared sexuality, the Salvation Army exchange with my aunt was hard to listen to. And the inference that homosexuality was essentially a disease. was just plain horrible. Many gay men of certain generations will have their own recollections of that time. [00:26:30] That is why it is truly a marvellous thing that Legans exists and emerged literally from the ashes. Following the 1986 arson attack, just a year after that petition, I think it important that we remember that that attack took place in a social [00:27:00] milieu of disgust and fear. My auntie was one of 800, 000 New Zealanders that allegedly signed that petition. I say allegedly as there is considerable doubt. over the veracity of that figure. My name is Chris CK and I stand before you this evening [00:27:30] as a chief librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library. I'm here to acknowledge the role that the library played in offering the archive safe harbour in 1988, some two years after that arson attack. I need to give a shout out to my predecessors, Jim Trowie and Margaret Calder. The chief librarians before me that [00:28:00] recognized the social value of what was to become legands and oversaw the establishment of an enduring relationship. I'm pleased to continue that commitment and have no reason to doubt that the library's Commitment will wave into the future. It is a wonderful thing that future generations have the [00:28:30] opportunity to read and understand the first hand realities of being gay in New Zealand at certain times. in our history. Let's also acknowledge that we're not just talking about tales of yesteryear. Let's remember that it was only this year that conversion therapy, a practice to stop the [00:29:00] spread of homosexuality, was made illegal. L G B T T F I Q are a bunch of letters that speak to the diversity within the Laghans Archive. I think there is another letter that speaks to Laghans. The letter R. [00:29:30] R for resilience. To the Lagans trustees, both past and present, your resilience is unquestionable. R is also for respect. You undoubtedly deserve respect for what you have achieved. And we, as New Zealanders, Oh, you a tremendous vote of [00:30:00] thanks. Thank you and congratulations. on your anniversary. Kia ora. Kia ora everyone. Um, thank you Chris. That was, that was really awesome to hear. Um, uh, thank you so much for having me here, [00:30:30] um, and Ruben for organizing all of this. Um, my name is Will. I've been a trustee of LegAMS since 2017 and it's been an absolute privilege to be a part of this organization. Um, before I jump into what I was going to say, I just wanted to Um, give a shout out to the Counting Ourselves survey. As a young trans person, uh, you know, I feel it's my duty to remind all of my fellow transgender diverse people to please fill out the survey. Um, having community data means that we can better advocate for ourselves and make [00:31:00] systems work for us. So, uh, please head to countingourselves. nz after this. Talk. Um, cool. So, uh, because I was assigned nerd at birth, um, one of the first things I remember doing when I realized that I was a lesbian at the time, uh, was Google Lesbian History New Zealand. And one of the first things that came up was leggings. I learned that Wellington was where our history was held, and it was then that I knew that I [00:31:30] really wanted to come and visit. It still took me a few years after that, after moving down, that I finally managed to come down to the National Library, and it was Roger Swanson who welcomed me with open arms into this wonderful archival world, and I'll never forget him for it. Since then, I've had so many amazing opportunities to connect with our past and with those who've lived it. Being able to interview older generations about their histories has been the most incredible and rewarding experience of my life. Uh, so many people have given so [00:32:00] generously to me, I hardly know what to think of it. So many of them in this room, Sandy, Marnie, Deanne, Chanel, Rene, Gavin, Roger, Donald, uh, there's too many of you to name. Um, yeah. It's, I just, I turn into a bumbling mess when I think about it and that's why I always say too many thank yous and sorrys and get told off for it. Um, because I just don't know the adequate way to express everything that it means to me. [00:32:30] Um, offering me, you know, your time, your foods, your knowledge, uh, your transport, your stories, retelling stories that are often painful and vulnerable. I'm aware that my experiences in getting to be a part of LAGANZ and getting to talk to, um, a lot of older queer people in the way that I have, is something that not many people my age get to experience. Um, I don't know many of, uh, other people in my cohort who are able to connect with, um, queer people older than themselves in the way that I've [00:33:00] been so lucky to have the opportunity to do. Being able to learn from generations past is vital to our community's well being. And yet, unlike so many other communities, we're of course not born into queer families most of the time, and we have to find that knowledge ourselves. Because, uh, back when I first joined Leg Ends, I didn't yet have a receding hairline. One of my roles as a trustee has been to reach out to the youth. I believe that Leg Ends has an important role to play in connecting us all [00:33:30] together. I know that there's a real desire amongst people my age and younger to learn about their community's past and to learn from and build relationships with those who've lived it. I know that it can be daunting for both sides. Sometimes it feels like we're speaking different languages. Um, but I know from experience and I'm sure many of you in this room do too, that there's little, that's more life affirming than finally meeting someone who was like yourself, but older you think. Well they've done it, they've managed to survive and to thrive and if they [00:34:00] can do it then I can do it too. Learning histories that our oppressors have desperately tried to destroy, the legacies of queer struggle and joy and defiance, meeting those who have worked so hard to make life better for those coming after them, gives us a sense of belonging, a sense of pride, and a sense of power. It is important to create opportunities for youth to learn about our histories and thereby to honor our histories and to honor those who paved the way. It was through having conversations about [00:34:30] all of this with my friends Caitlin Lynch and Liam Golter from Wellington Scene Fest that the Archive is Alive project was born. We named it this because history is speaking to us all the time. It is always evolving. And everyone, no matter their age, is a part of its tumbling spiral. The Archive is Alive is also a reflection of the fact that despite attempts to erase queer history, um, and legumes quite literally, we have emerged out of the ashes and this archive has continued to thrive. So in August 2020, we put [00:35:00] out a call for a small group of participants to engage in a free intensive two day workshop. Day one saw us come down to the National Library to discuss queer histories and spend some time hands on with the archives, which everyone said there was not nearly enough time to do because they loved it so much, which was awesome. And on day two, we all sat down together with photographs of the archival items and got creating to make the zines. The progress was incredibly rewarding, um, participants got really engaged and created some beautiful [00:35:30] and reflective pieces of art, um, and writing about what they, what queer histories meant to them and their time in Leggings, and I'm very grateful to every participant from all three of the Archivers Alive zines. Um, so yeah, we repeated the process again in March 2021, um, but for the second round we decided to focus specifically on trans histories, uh, as these are generally underrepresented in tellings of our queer past. Um, and then for our third zine, we wanted to acknowledge that most of our participants had been, uh, been in their twenties in the first two [00:36:00] rounds, so we decided to focus on bringing in high school aged youth to explore and create around the theme of queer youth histories. Rangatahi need to feel affirmed and supported by their older counterparts, and it's our duty to uplift queer youth in knowing that they are queer history in the making, that their life is important, and their archive is important. So with this kaupapa in mind, we teamed up with Compass Ramsey and the team at Inside Out, um, the fabulous team there, which, if you don't know, is a national charity focused on uplifting [00:36:30] our rainbow rangatahi, doing absolutely amazing work. Um, unfortunately, we kept getting delayed by COVID. Uh, so finally, we decided we didn't feel comfortable holding a big in person event. We hastily adapted to a scaled down mini online version lasting only an hour, held on Zoom during Inside Out's annual shift hui. Um, and despite being so short, it was still just a wonderful opportunity to connect with the online participants, and we received some beautiful submissions. Uh, thank you so much to everyone who participated in Archive is Alive Volume 3. Um, [00:37:00] I was too busy running around that I forgot to Bring one to hold, but, um, you can buy them out the front for 2. Um, I encourage you to do that. So I'm very proud now to welcome some of our participants from the Archive is Alive volume three on stage to speak about their zine pages. Uh, Nico, would you like to come up first? Thank you. No, I'm Nico. Uh, and I did the page, which is just after the staples. Um, and you may be able to recognize it. And [00:37:30] I wanted to focus on, um, the future of. The queer youth and how we can, if everyone works together, we can make sure that queer youth in the future have something to look forward to and a safe place that they can stay. Um, and yeah, we can work towards just making everyone feel safe and happy. Thank you so much, Nico. Uh, Sage, you about? Awesome. Thank you. [00:38:00] Uh, in my pages of the zine, I talk very briefly about capitalism and colonialism and how those link to compulsory monogamy. Although, of course, you could dedicate libraries to each of these topics individually. In submitting these pages, I had an underlying worry that I wouldn't be able Oh, that they wouldn't be included, or that I would receive negative comments, because polyamory is still a touchy subject, even within queer spaces. Almost as soon as I sent them in, it was super clear that this was [00:38:30] definitely not an issue, but it was, it really got me thinking about the progression of the acceptance of the various identities that we now refer to as queer. When I talk to my friends in whanau that have experienced queer community for a lot longer than I have, they talk about how when gay acceptance was becoming more present, and being bisexual was seen as going too far. Then after that, being trans was seen as going too far. There are still remnants of this internalised prejudice in our [00:39:00] communities, but I think that as time goes on, polyamory has begun to taking this place. We could see the sentiment of going too far when we were reaching the le Oh, sorry, I'm all shaky. Uh, when we were reaching the legalization of gay marriage, and people were arguing that if we let that happen, we would soon be arguing for people to be able to marry more than one person. At that time, a lot of queer response was that that was definitely false. But why shouldn't that be what we move on to? [00:39:30] Polyamory is not ridiculous. It should not be a channel for queerphobic hyperbole. It should not be a channel for slut shaming or sex negativity. Just as anything else that we now think of as queer. Non monogamy has been around for a very, very long time. In many countries, including Aotearoa, non monogamy only became stigmatized with colonization and the entrance of capitalism, making the acceptance of this identity and relationship style just another crucial step in our decolonial [00:40:00] anti capitalist mahi. I appreciate having the space to openly express my admittedly underdeveloped, young, queer, polyamorous, socialist ideas because the polyamorous part of this really doesn't get the opportunity to shine much yet. I have so much hope that one day it will. Tēnā koutou katoa. The next speaker is Gavin Young. [00:40:30] And Gavin's going to speak about the formation of the Dorian Society. He's been a gay activist in the 70s and 80s and was involved in Gay Liberation, the campaign for homosexual equality in Wellington as international secretary and then coordinator of the National Gay Rights Coalition. And then in the 1980s he was involved with the Pink Triangle White Publishing Collective. So he's played a part in organizing and participating in many of the campaigns and actions to change [00:41:00] our society in the place of our rainbow communities. Um, during that period, his career has been in trade development. We said there's a New Zealand trade commissioner and a number of countries. And he's now researching the history, the history of the lesbian and gay rights movement from 1960 to 1986 and plans to write a book to tell many long lost or never before told stories of the fight for what would become [00:41:30] LGBTQIA plus. Community rights Kilda? No, Mike given, so there's two things I'm gonna cover, um, because, um, it's a year of anniversary this year and there's two pivotal ones, uh, for the plus community, and that's formation of the Dorian Society, which is 60 years ago this year, uh, in 1962. And the formation of gay liberation, which is 50 years ago, uh, in 1972. Just to set the [00:42:00] scene, um, you'll appreciate that in the early 1960s, um, things were very different. Um, male homosexual acts were subject to punishment by terms of imprisonment, five years for so called indecent acts between men, and up to seven years for sodomy, which is, um, the term they use for fucking. Um, in, in those days, In those days, we were regarded as perverts by the police, uh, sick by [00:42:30] psychologists and doctors, sinful by the churches, and immoral by society generally. So, um, not a, not a great situation, but there were a number of, uh, oh, and, and there were a number of our community who were also married, um, in heterosexual marriages. So, But there was a number of people who, or were a number of people who, um, identified as camp, which was the term at the time. Um, and also, um, uh, trans people, uh, [00:43:00] and they generally had quite a good social life. So this is a more positive story that I want to tell rather than just the, the, um, the gloom and doom, um, that we could tell. Um, okay. So this is. Uh, the Royal Oak Hotel, and the Royal Oak, um, was one of the venues which was really key to the community. Um, there were bars where trans people went, there were bars where, um, lesbians and, uh, camp men, [00:43:30] um, congregated, and there were, um, other bars where, um, where people, uh, also, also went. Um, so this This is the Royal Oak. It's no longer there. Looking down Dixon Street, Cuba Street, it's the cross street, which is now Cuba Mall. And where the car is turning, of course, is where the Rainbow Crossing is now, if you can recognize that. Now, not far away from there, uh, in a little street called Herbert Street, which was just Up this way, uh, down Dixon Street, [00:44:00] um, was a, uh, coffeehouse called the Tata Tate, and, um, that was on the corner of Edward Street, which is still there, and Herbert Street, which is no longer. Um, there were other cafes and pubs, and I I don't know whether Sandy might mention those in her presentation shortly. The thing about that time, um, is the bars all closed at six o'clock. So what to do after six o'clock when you got chucked out? Um, and so lots of people went for, um, [00:44:30] a coffee at the Tate a Tate and they also served toasted sandwiches and, and hamburgers. Um, so that was, that was one of the places to go. So I don't know whether you recognize this. This is Manor Street. Um, and. Just here is a little One way street, and that's Herbert Street. It's no longer there, um, and just over about there is where McDonald's on Manor Street now is, and those, the rest of those buildings are all demolished, and there's a street through the middle of it now.[00:45:00] Um, this is what Herbert Street looked like in the 1920s, but it gives you an idea of it was just a narrow lane with footpaths on one side, and where the Tater Tate was, was up about here, um, but obviously not there in the 1920s, it didn't arrive until the 1960s. So during the weekends, um, uh, there were quite a few parties, um, and people, you know, private houses. And so people go to the Royal Oak and they find out where the parties were. And two of [00:45:30] the regular places, um, that had parties, and there were lots of other places as well, but two of the regular places were, um. Um, 29 North Terrace in, uh, Kelburn and 185 The Terrace. So this is, this is North Terrace. Um, it was, it was a property of several flats, um, and there were a number of, um, gay and lesbian people lived there. Um, Alison Laurie, um, the lesbian activist lived here at that time. [00:46:00] And this, um, photo is of Case Cooch, who also lived there at that time. Um, one of the things, um, that Case talks about, um, is that his, his flat was a bit like a railway station. And, um, so, you know, even when there weren't parties, there were always people coming and going and he, he sort of, he had the idea that, you know, maybe it was time we had a club and he wasn't the only one that had that idea. There were, there were other people thinking along the same lines. But he discussed it [00:46:30] with John Mackay and also Jim Goode, and Jim Goode was a waiter at the Tata Tate, and he'll come up in a minute. This is the other place, 185 Terrace, this house is still there by the way, um, and this is the back of it. So, it was in three floors, it was one of the grand old houses on the terrace at the time, um, when, in the day. At the time, there were, the top, there was the top. which was in two flats and the middle which was, uh, one flat and was that [00:47:00] middle flat which, um, Jim Good occupied with, um, uh, with Don McMillan, um, as his flatmate. And the, the three flats were sort of basically open plan, so they, they ran it pretty much as a house. Um, These are some of the residents in the front room of that house, um, so, uh, Robbie Prince, um, uh, Morrie, um, Kershaw, [00:47:30] the, this one is Jim Goode, uh, and Vayner Nansen, and this guy is a visitor, we're not sure who he is. So, Um, the idea was, was talked about for several weeks, and there were a number of people involved, including, um, Rick Ronsley and, and Don McMillan. And there were also a number of, um, people of Dutch origin, and they were aware of the COC in the Netherlands, which ran cafes and, and, and clubs and stuff for the camp, um, [00:48:00] community. So they thought it was a good idea as well. Anyway, long story short, um, most of the group was pretty young people and they thought they needed somebody a little bit more senior. So Brett Rawnsley, uh, happened to know a guy who was in the National Orchestra, played the cello, a guy called Claude Tanner. So he brought Claude along to a meeting, um, at Jim Goode's flat at 185 The Terrace. And, um, it was on [00:48:30] Sunday the 27th of May, 1962. 16 men attended. Um, there were two in this picture, Robbie and Jim Goode. Um, were at that meeting, uh, along with 14 others. And they decided to form what was New Zealand's first homosexual organisation. Um, full stop. Um, and it was Social Club for Camp or Homosexual Men in Wellington, um, when it started. This is, this is from Laggans [00:49:00] actually, it's one of the very historic documents in Laggans, and, and thank God it didn't get burnt in the fire. Um, it's the minutes of that first meeting. Um, at that meeting, Claude Tanner, um, the, Older guy that Brett brought along was elected president and Jim Goode vice president and Brett himself Um 19 year old Brett was elected secretary treasurer and he in fact wrote these minutes So and Brett is here tonight somewhere. Where are [00:49:30] you Brett? Oh over here Anyway, so if you want to talk to Brett, um, I think he's the only person that was at that meeting who's here tonight Although there are a number still alive and i've been talking to them as part of my research One of the things that, um, that the group did when they, when they got set up was, um, to get themselves, um, fairly well organised in terms of, um, a constitution, um, they registered as [00:50:00] an incorporated society, and they also got themselves premises, still within about two months, and those premises were in Cornhill Street, which is kind of still there, so, excuse the map, but, um, Um, just to put it, this is where the Royal Oak was, go along Dixon Street and there's the, uh, Tate a Tate and then just along on Manor Street, so basically, pretty much opposite where the McDonald's is today, was Cornhill Street, which was just a, basically a [00:50:30] service lane and, um, and there's a building on the corner and they accessed it from Cornhill Street. So it was a three story building and they had room, a room on the top floor. So this, this is the old Regent Theatre on, um, Manor Street. Just along this way is where the building was that housed the Dorian. Um, and we're not sure whether either this building or the next one was where it was, and it [00:51:00] was in that top room, um, where the, where the Dorian was. So basically everybody Um, in the club contributed what they could, so they contributed floor coverings and furniture and coffee maker and, um, and some members made interest free loans, which, which got paid back over time, uh, and one committee member, um, had access to a whole lot of, um, timber from car cases. Does anybody know what car cases were? You know, they were the, [00:51:30] when we had a, when we had a motor vehicle assembly industry, they were the cases where the completely knocked down cars came in and they were big. Big wooden cases. So there was a lot of wood left over once the car's, uh, parts were taken out. And, um, Jim Good, who was a pretty handy man, he offered to make a table for the club out of, um, out of that wood. You probably recognize this person, Johnny Crossgree, frequently dressed in drag. Um, and very, very, um, [00:52:00] uh, well dressed at that. Um, Johnny by profession was a window dresser and he was one of the best in town. So there was a lot of pretty grand shops and, and, um, department stores and he was in demand to, um, do their window displays. And his, his contribution, and thanks for the story, um, to, um, Brett Rawnsley, um, his contribution, um, or one of his contributions was to make a sort of a half a bar, half bars with [00:52:30] a, um, dried flower arrangements, which sat in the front window overlooking, uh, ministry. So he made a statement for the club. These are some of the early committee members, uh, of the club. Um, this is, uh, Claude Tanner, um, Case Cooch again, John Mackay, who was, uh, quite, uh, important during that period, including into Homosexual Law Reform Society. Um, uh, Michael Mahunga and, um, [00:53:00] Anish Law. And another, another group, so some of them are the same, but, um, this is a, a rear photo of, uh, Johnny Croskery, out of drag, um, and that is Don McMillan, um, Murray Eggers, uh, of course, Claude Tanner, and this person is, uh, Jack Goodwin and Jack Goodwin was the president in 1963 just for one year, but he also went on to become the secretary of [00:53:30] the Homosexual Law Reform Society for many years and was a really important person in the, in the fight for, um, change in attitudes and, and the law. Um, the club went on for 26 years, um, it, uh, wound up in 1988, uh, but it moved to various premises, it moved, um, in 1966 to, uh, Willow Street, and this is a picture from there, um, Argyle McLean, um, McCain might be familiar to some of you, and then in the 1970s it moved [00:54:00] to, um, Lampton Quay, which was kind of its heyday, and finally, uh, in the 1980s to the Willow Street Village. Okay, we'll move on to gay liberation in 1972. Now, it was instigated in Auckland by, you've probably known, uh, Nahuia Volkeling, now, um, Awi Kotuku, um, uh, over, it was really over an issue with the United States, um, consulate, and they [00:54:30] refused to give her a visa on the grounds that she was a deviant, and it was a, it was a rule that they had that, they could use to prevent, um, lesbian and gay people entering the states, um, because she had won a scholarship and she said that she, um, she wanted to, uh, study the gay movement amongst other things. Um, so they stopped her. Um, she went back to the university and they were having a forum, um, in the quad at, uh, at Auckland University. And she got up and, and explained what [00:55:00] had happened and said, does anybody want to join me in, in, uh, setting up gay liberation? And that's how it started. So there was a group that got going and they did many, um, many things in a very short period, uh, in Auckland and Nahuia was an amazing, um, amazingly busy activist at that time. She also went to Christchurch and she addressed the students at, um, Canterbury University. And she talked to a group that subsequently formed Gay [00:55:30] Liberation Front in Christchurch in May, 1972. And then she came to Wellington and she talked to some, um, uh, lesbian and gay people here who wanted to form a group. Um, but we were, we were a little bit slower. Um, and, uh, author and historian Brent Coutts, um, says that, um, in, uh, In June, um, Nigel Boer and Russ and David Russell from, uh, Auckland Gay Liberation Front, came [00:56:00] down to Wellington, had another, um, uh, had more discussions with the Wellington people. So there's, uh, , this, this was at Victoria University, um, talking to the Women's Forum. Um, she was a clipping from Christchurch. But actually in Wellington, um, it was, despite the fact that we had, yeah, despite, I'll be very quick, despite the fact that we had, um, quite, quite a few [00:56:30] prominent, um, gay men in the Dorian Society and Homosexual Law Reform Society, it fell to this guy who is a, um, a 19 university student by the name of Kevin McCone, um, who placed an ad in the student newspaper Salient on 12th of July, 1972. And this is the ad. So it was, it was asking people to call him. And he set up a meeting at his flat in Berhampore on Sunday, the 16th of July. And it [00:57:00] seems to me there's a little bit of dispute about the date, um, when, when Gay Liberation in Wellington was actually formed. But I think it was the 16th of July. And they, um, set up a, um, A little bit like the Women's Movement at the time, they rejected power structures and they set up a Troika, uh, and one of those people on the Troika was, um, Donald Raythorne, uh, who's here tonight and is also on the board of, of Lagans. [00:57:30] They had a big, uh, they had another meeting on the 19th of July, and they had a bigger meeting on the 20th, on the 30th of July at Victoria University. Um, their very first action was around here. Um, and, um, the opening night of here on the 4th of August, um, it seems really, really banal now, but they handed out leaflets. But if you think about it, um, you know, nobody, you know, nobody was out. Um, [00:58:00] and And so it was really challenging for the individuals themselves who went along to that, um, to hand out leaflets and say, I'm lesbian or gay as they handed out their leaflets. So the leaflets read, come out of your closets, let the sun shine in, gay liberation welcomes here to Wellington, and then included contact details for gay liberation. Um, so I'll just very quickly flick through. There was a conference in Auckland, uh, later that month. Um, so [00:58:30] that's really the beginning. That's really the end of the beginning, if you like. So, um, I'll give you your time back, Kevin. So thank you. Thank you so much, Kevin. Um, uh, we're so lucky that, that you're doing this research, Kevin, because it's so important. And I think you're an awesome person to be doing it. So, um, thank you so much for sharing some of that with us today. Um, it's now my pleasure to introduce our next speaker, [00:59:00] Sandy Gauntlett. Um, Sandy's been an activist their entire life. Uh, born an activist, trans, like a pathway, indigenous, environmental activism, and so much more. Um, I could wax lyrical, but all I really want to say is that Sandy's a hero of mine, and they're going to hate me for saying that, but it's true, and you've done amazing work, and I'm really, really pleased that Sandy is going to share their story today, and we can go a little way towards honouring everything that they've done, so welcome Sandy.[00:59:30] And she'll always hated the term hero. You know, I've hated it applying to anybody else except a parade. Um, but you know, the term hero, I've never been a hero ever. I have been a rebel. I have been an activist most of my life. I lived half of my life as a woman, [01:00:00] um, and was going to have a sex change, but in my early 40s, I had a heart attack and they told me it was the estrogen, the pure estrogen that I was on that had induced it. Um, Needless to say, I got pretty depressed and I went from 78 kilos to 149 in the matter of a year. Um, I'm not proud of that. The photo [01:00:30] in the book of me It's when I was about 29, something like that, that we'll manage to hunt out. Um, and as you can see, I was a lot skinnier then than I am now. Um, but I am now actually down to around 80 kilos. So that's, it varies between 79 and 83, but I've managed to [01:01:00] stabilize it in that variation. Um, I don't think anything. I have done has ever been heroic. It's just was what was natural to me. I believe in the principle of equality for us all, for everyone. And if I had one message to leave this meeting with, it would be leave no one. behind, [01:01:30] ever. It's, you know, um, I was, uh, raised in a Catholic school. You can imagine that wasn't fun. Um, my first time out in drag I was 12. And, um, Nobody had cars then. It was, you know, weird. Nobody in Avondale had cars then. And [01:02:00] I caught the bus into town because I knew of two queens who worked the streets down by a Chinese restaurant on Greats Avenue. And so I caught the bus into town and I was so paranoid about people realising I was in drag. I had. Oh God, I fitted into a size 12 Xiong Fam, I can't believe that. You know, it was the [01:02:30] Susie Wong dress, for those of you who don't know what a Xiong Fam is. And, um, it was my mother's by the way. I don't think she still knows, well she's dead now, I don't think she ever found out I borrowed it for the night. Um, and I Also put a packet of Tampax in the handbag I'd pinched off her, so that if I thought anyone was looking at me funny, I could shake it out and they'd see the Tampax. And [01:03:00] that would convince them that I was the woman. Um, not long after that, I started wearing drag. full time. I met the two queens at the bottom of Grace Avenue, and in those days, and I know some of you will find this hard to believe, no one, absolutely no one, would employ a transsexual. You know, ever, and I can remember getting done up in boys clothes and [01:03:30] combing my hair back and the whole bit and trying to get a job at Woolworths, and they told me they didn't employ lesbians, so you can't win either way, uh, and, um, Polly and Cleo, and they're both dead now, were like my camp mothers, if you know what I mean by that, and they showed me how to make money, And I am actually not ashamed of having been a [01:04:00] prostitute for several years of my life. We all have to eat, we all have to pay rent, and no one would give us a job. So you make money how you can. And I am so glad those days are gone for the younger generation. I, you are our future, in exactly eight days time, well seven and a half days now, I, it's my [01:04:30] birthday, and I, and I will be 73, and um, my bypass, caused by the heart attack, but Ended my life living as a woman, um, is now 32 years old and it's starting to fail. And I've never been scared of dying, ever, you know, but [01:05:00] I am scared of the pain of dying. There's a difference. So I've put it in my medical notes that if ever I'm admitted to hospital and there is no hope, they'd have put me into a coma. Because I want to die unconscious, you know, um, so I am not going to be around that much longer. So if you want to know anything about the history of Auckland, and by the way, Gay Liberation Auckland didn't [01:05:30] start with Nahuia. I mean, she was a big thing over, you know, not getting the visa, and she'd won the scholarship in America. There was a gay student movement on campus for about three years. Before that happened, and I know, because I used to go up and do drag shows to help them raise funds, and um, they all thought I was beautiful. I've never actually thought that. The [01:06:00] photo in the program shows me as being attractive, and I still don't, I still can't see that. You know, I can't. I look at myself now, and it is so hard not to cry, I do. I wanted to be a woman with every fiber of my being, and somehow some god [01:06:30] decided he was going to interfere. And that's, I'll leave it at that, if I have a wish for the future, I want all the young people, and some of the older people here, who are going to live on, to leave no one behind. Ever. Not once. You know, we all deserve. Equality. And we all deserve to have to fight for it, and to struggle for it, and to be a rebel, and to be an [01:07:00] activist. I'm so proud of being there my whole life. Thank you. Now, uh, it's my great pleasure to introduce our final speaker, um, for the evening. Ben Black, Ngāi Tūhoe, Whakatohea, Te Whānau a Apanui. He happens to have similar whakapapa connections to me, but I didn't realise he was [01:07:30] coming along tonight until earlier in the week. So, um, he has a background in, uh, working for non governmental organisations, supporting and advocating for people living with HIV and AIDS, and for our rainbow and Whakatāpui whānau. Currently, Ben is the Rainbow Youth, um, manager of Bay Plenty, uh, Rainbow Youth. Um, and he's going to talk about the Rainbow Youth Tauranga drop in centre, ASIM. Nō reira nau mai, haere [01:08:00] mai, Ben. Kia ora koutou katoa. Um, thank you for having me. It's, um, awesome to be here at this event celebrating queer history. So yeah, um, so I'm Ben, um, the Rambi Youth Manager for, um, the Bay of Plenty. And, um, I'm going to tell you a few of my thoughts and, um, some observations and feelings about the arts and the tech. And, um, I was thinking about it all day today and it was a little bit raw. [01:08:30] So, um, there's a few things that I want to explore, um, like grief, um, responding and reacting, um, and yeah, we'll just get straight into it. So, um, I found out about the asthma tech and, um, transit in Sydney. It was coming back from amazing research trip in, um, in Nepal. Um, so I had, um, 10 minutes to log onto the Wi Fi and I was getting all these strange messages, messages from reporters [01:09:00] or just random people asking me, uh, about my thoughts on this fire. Um, can I comment and things like that? So I was very confused and I didn't, didn't know until I really got back into the country and I was just devastated because, um, well, as you can imagine, It's just shocking news, and I was really devastated by some other news, um, that I found out in Nepal. So it was like layers of grief, um, and so I wasn't [01:09:30] only devastated, our whole rainbow community was devastated. Rainbow Youth was devastated, um, Tauranga was devastated. Um, so it got me thinking about grief, and as a rainbow people. We often, um, struggle with grief and we're part of communities, communities that are part of grief. So, um, it just made me think, how do we manage that? Where do we go for support? [01:10:00] Um, and the, also the societal impacts of grief. So there's withdrawal, um, isolation, um, uh, um, other challenges like that. So it can be quite, um, yeah, it's quite challenging. Um, the other thing I noticed is. A lot of people reacting rather than responding. Um, you know, as you know, it's quite shocking. So you don't quite know how to deal with something like that. I actually [01:10:30] Googled what to do after a fire because I didn't know. Um, um, but yeah, so, um, we thought really hard, um, we will consider it. We wanted to respond appropriately. So we just wanted to focus on our job and support our rainbow youth. And, um, create inclusive spaces, so that's what we did. So, um, we didn't respond to any silly [01:11:00] questions from the media, like, how does it feel, you know? Um, and sometimes you have to do things for your own sanity, too. Um, so Yeah, so it was devastating and I learned a lot of things along the journey, but also some amazing things, um, how a community can bond together to strengthen, um, a community and to rebuild and regain. Like, that was [01:11:30] overwhelming. I'd never seen anything like that, even though I know the community and I work in the community. So it was, it gave me lots of hope and encouragement. And I just want to have a, give a big shout out to all those people that gave us support to, and to our sister organisation, Gender Dynamics, who responded at the time and gave their support when it was needed. Um, and I just want to end on a whakatauki.[01:12:00] It goes, uh, Ka mati kāinga tahi, ka ora kāinga roa. When one house perishes, another shall rise. And there's nothing about us without us. Um, Sandy reminded me of that, um, in her talk just before. And I just want to leave you with that. And I'm just really excited about rebuilding and what other projects are going to come. So, kia ora, mauri ora, kia ta, kia koutou. Kia[01:12:30] ora mai, kia ora mai, Ben. The research project that Ben was talking about, I was on the same research project in, in Nepal and we're both working on it at the moment, uh, looking at, uh, Indigenous women and Māori women living with HIV and other Indigenous women, uh, around the, around the world. And so it was at that, um, uh, [01:13:00] forum that, uh, yeah, those, those issues came up, um, not only for Ben, but of course, as whānau, and we have to work out how to. How to help. And it's great being the way that you've encapsulated out of the ashes, um, highlighting the resilience of community, the resilience of people. Um, but also do we take care of ourselves? And part of our history is a way of taking, taking care of that, knowing that it has happened before, [01:13:30] knowing that it could happen again. And so to be, to be strong in that sense. So. In concluding, um, I'd really like to thank our speakers, once again, and I've always wanted to do this because I've been watching that MasterChef stuff, and, you know, I really wanted to, to be like Jock at the end and say, give it up for all our speakers, so please, can you give it up for all our speakers.[01:14:00] Thank you once again for coming along to this evening, a really significant occasion celebrating our history. Out of the ashes and my final conclusion I'd just like to recall some of the things that Lagans would like you to to also, um, you know, know about our monetary donations, what we're doing, um, donating queer material, letting people know that there is a place here, um, for our material and [01:14:30] I invite you. Or come and have a chat and mingle after this. No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā rawa ati tātou katoa. Greetings everyone.
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