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I'm Tim Barnett. I was a Labour Member of Parliament, uh, in, uh, in this place from 1996 to 2008. Uh, when I was elected, I was the only, uh, openly, uh, Rainbow Member of that Parliament, the 96 to 99 Parliament. I followed on from Chris Carter, who, uh, was, uh, came out as an MP in 1997. 90, uh, 3 94, and also from Marilyn Waring many [00:00:30] years before, um, probably I was the first MP to be elected having been reported in the media, um, before being elected as being gay. So that would be, um, that my part of the jigsaw. Um, so the first three years it was pretty lonely and then life changed, uh, quite rapidly, particularly when Chris came back in Georgina Bay. Came in as well, and since then the rainbow presence in Parliament has really increased, uh, [00:01:00] immensely. Um, my main political legacy, I guess, was around the, the Prostitution Reform Bill, where I was the sponsor of the bill. And obviously, uh, as somebody who's gay, that, that story was.. Pretty closely aligned to me with the way that people are marginalized because of their, their sexuality or their sexual behavior. So, so to me is, uh, it would have been pretty hard for a straight. male member of parliament to sponsor that for me, it was maybe that bit easier. [00:01:30] Um, so we went through that journey, and at the same time the journey around civil unions began. And I, uh, initially, really at the behest of the then Prime Minister, Helen Clark, began a process of talking with rainbow communities around what kind of model was wanted. And pretty clearly there were Two possibilities emerged. One was something that was politically feasible, which [00:02:00] was as close to marriage as we could do, but wouldn't be called marriage. And that was civil union, and that won the debate. The other possibility was to go for marriage. Like things sometimes happen in politics, numbers are pretty important, and it was clear that marriage at that stage.. Globally, it was these two newer concepts who really.. Be able to get through so we went through a interesting debate on that one The majority of the civil union was only I think 10 votes. So it was a pretty [00:02:30] tight debate. We're looking back at it now It's amazing that only a few years later marriage equality went through Overwhelmingly, so it showed that speed with which things were happening. Um, new zealand was the first country outside europe to pass legislation giving equal status to to same sex relationships and that was the real effect of The other, the issue, other issue about the civil union is that at the same time as that went through, there was separate legislation [00:03:00] giving equal status to, uh, marriage, to civil union relationships, and to.. De facto relationships, which arguably was the more radical the two pieces of legislation because it delivered on the, the principles of the Human Rights Act that said there shouldn't be discrimination on the basis of relationship status. So that went through and then the last three years of labor being labor leading government, which was [00:03:30] 2005 to 2008. The issues were a bit quieter, but I think a number of us who were leaving Parliament at that time were quite keen to get some kind of legacy to mark the journey, not just of those few years, but really the journey of the the 20 or so years before that, where this place has helped to really forge leadership, um, in public policy for principles, which are now pretty [00:04:00] mainstream. So, uh, having the last three years, I was a senior whip. And so I got to be more within the committees and bodies in parliament that actually make. the decisions about the institution. Margaret Wilson, who was a speaker at the time, was a good colleague of mine. And, as I looked around the corridor where the Rainbow Room is, I saw a room, uh, celebrating Māori parliamentarians, a room celebrating women, [00:04:30] celebrating Pacific Island people and being in Parliament. A room was set up to celebrate those from other ethnic communities, minority ethnic communities. It seemed to me that there was a, an obvious gap in that. Um, and that was obviously people who identified as lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, rainbow. So, that was the conversation that began. And, um, As sometimes happens in politics, sheer force of argument can prevail.[00:05:00] Um, Margaret Wilson checked and I think found out that essentially it was up to the Speaker to denote these rooms. We identified this as being an appropriate place in the same corridor to continue the pattern of rooms and that's where, that's where it all started. So, not too long before of power in 2008, there was a, an event. In the rainbow room, uh, led by the speaker involving all the former parliamentarians, current [00:05:30] parliamentarians who identified as. lesbian or gay, other parliamentarians who were supportive. People from the wider community including, um, the, um, the Māori performing, lesbian, gay performing network. And out of that, the Rainbow Room was launched. At the time it was launched, we had a bit of a history panel, we had some works of art. Um, since then, uh, I think it's [00:06:00] true to say it's kind of plateaued. Um, what's inspiring now is it seems to be a real move on to give the Rainbow Room a bit of a refresh and a re and a rehab, which it undoubtedly needed. Over the years it acquired, um, I think some more presentation material about, um, about how some of the big political battles were won, uh, and it also had some works of art. Um, one of which I think is behind me now, which, [00:06:30] uh, uh, which denote the room very clearly. There's a couple of, um, two or three observations, actually. One was that, um, after I left Parliament, I wrote a, an email to all the, the new MPs in that 2008 intake from Parliament, who I knew identified as lesbian or gay, to say It's your role to carry on preserving this taonga and develop it, and it's great to know that, uh, the room survived, because [00:07:00] sometimes these things don't. Um, secondly, I remember my, uh, former colleague Charles Chabelle, um, who continued through into that parliament, uh, always, when he was at a select committee meeting in this room, who are not. that's supportive of what the room stood for, just saying it was really great to be in a meeting in the room that was there to celebrate him and his [00:07:30] communities. And uh, I've also noticed as I've wandered through parliament in the years since I left, that at least some of the guides actually do denote the rainbow room, which I think would be quite a Surprise to many visitors. We, we all, we could never find any, um, example of another parliament that actually had a room which was dedicated to celebrating, uh, L G B T I Q communities, like, uh, like this place, and they're linked through to the parliament and to the wider political [00:08:00] activity. I was elected towards the end of 96. As I said, I was the only, uh, openly lesbian, gay, transgender MP at the time. Um, and there was a long discussion after that led by. Winston Peters deciding what to do, and eventually he went with National. So Labour, by that time we were near Christmas, so the maiden speeches were early the next year. And an MP from another party in his maiden speech decided to use homophobia to try and get, um, get some people laughing. [00:08:30] So I had a go at him in my maiden speech, which, uh, managed to grab a few headlines. Um, the, the Evening Post at the time said that, uh, that every New Zealand institution needed their They're, they're gay pom, and I was the gay pom in the New Zealand Parliament. Never quite understood that, but it was, it was their sense of humour, I guess. Um, as I said earlier, it was a pretty lonely, uh, road, uh, at least initially, uh, to be the only person out in a, in a place like this. I was pretty comfortable in [00:09:00] myself and in my electorate, but here often the issues were tougher and it felt a bit more lonely. Brian Tamaki, uh, launched an attack on Georgina and I, probably about 98, 99, where he preached with, um, four meter high pictures of us, um, behind him. One about Georgina, one about me. He accused Georgina of being a murderer because she'd killed the.. Um, killed the man inside her to create a woman. And [00:09:30] he accused me of, um, uh, Well, he told me the factual side of my life. I'd emigrated with an Anglican priest as a partner to New Zealand and I'd brought with me ideas about lesbian and gay rights that were very un New Zealand. And that I was here to propagate them. And of course the audience were cheering and booing as only destiny can do. So that was, that was an interesting one. Uh, at the same time, because I was quite an [00:10:00] unusual figure, even in the Christchurch environment, there was a lot of, uh, There were death threats and there were faeces in the post and a whole lot of the stuff, which hopefully is less likely to happen now. None of which, I mean my staff protected me from most of that, but it was obviously not pleasant. And then when Chris and Georgina came back in and we got into government, the story of getting a bit more awareness in government of, uh, of the issues became apparent. The initial one was [00:10:30] that, uh, National had tried to remove government from the Human Rights Act so that we would be in a situation where government wouldn't, uh, be controlled by the principles of the Act and, and I'd been the human rights spokesperson at the time, so we got that piece of legislation through and then my, my focus was very much on the prostitution reform for.. And then the civil union debate started. That was, I chaired the select committee dealing with that. Uh, and we had, uh, [00:11:00] 250 submitters. We had to have people in pairs, who were either both for or both against. And five minutes each, and then, uh, five minutes of questions and on to the next one. So that was a, that was pretty intense. And in fact, even committee members who opposed. Civil Union were quite shocked by the, the, the emotion and the spirit which came out in a lot of the submissions against, and the quite personal stuff about me because I happen to be there. Uh, there was an attempt by [00:11:30] Some MPs removed me as chair because I had a, um, conflict of interest, as they thought, because the legislation was about creating a new status and it would affect everyone, so, um, we managed to defeat that argument. Um, so that, that debate and, and the activity around it was probably politically a lot calmer than, um, the prostitution law reform, and, and the vote was a little.. More certain at the end, but of course in the, [00:12:00] during, um, the Civil Union Bill we had, um, Brian Tamaki and 5, 000 marchers heading up to Parliament and, and the rainbow flag was flown outside until security noticed and that was quite a, um, that was quite an occasion. Um, a gay couple, uh, I know, um, who are together to this day actually met, uh, as counter protesters on that day, so there's always a.. bit of a romantic spinoff to these horrible events. Uh, but that was, that kind of, I think, really helped [00:12:30] people to realise this was a hearts and minds debate, and I think probably the civil union debate helped to water down the opposition to marriage equality when, when that came through. Um, apart from that, I mean, I think uh, New Zealand's alignment internationally with lesbian and gay rights, and I think the.. of Parliament and the more progressive forces here with what's right in the world. I think those forces became [00:13:00] more apparent as time went on. I remember with Margaret Wilson and the cross party delegation visiting Russia in 2007 for a conference. And at the New Zealand Embassy in Moscow we invited the lesbian and gay activists who since been arrested many times there. So that kind of alignment of, of, with what is right in, in this world is important. And I think this parliament has been a place that has been prepared to lead on occasions. And [00:13:30] that's a, that's a welcome, a welcome relief. Oh, I think every, any room needs a refresh after a while. I mean, this place has now been here 10, 11 years. And I think, And I think, uh, I think it's survival is a key thing, so great to see it, uh, surviving as an institution. And I think now these issues are even more central, and I think our human rights approach is more settled than it was ten years ago. So this room getting [00:14:00] refreshed, having the legislation on display, and also bringing in those elements of artwork, and now for the first time actually deciding to have the images. of the MPs who, uh, would identify with, uh, this, this room or what it represents. I think all that is, uh, immensely exciting. So congratulations to those who've had the, the vision and the energy to make that happen.
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