We count 16 out candidates in this weekend's General Election, seven of whom are almost guaranteed seats in Parliament, and a couple of others who have a chance at nabbing one. There are also some possible voices of the future running, who are beginning to make themselves heard. North Shore Kiwirail Linehaul Process Manager Damian Light is standing for UnitedFuture on Auckland's North Shore. He is 12th on the party list and his leader Peter Dunne tells us Light is a very impressive candidate and was selected on that basis, adding sexuality is a non-issue and not something the party asks its candidates about. Light was drawn to UnitedFuture by Dunne's 'commonsense' approach and what he sees as fair and well-considered policies, which balance financial sense and social responsibility. Light is pro same-sex adoption, saying "adoption is not about the sexual orientation of the parents, the issue is whether the parents are suitable". The Rosmini College old boy, who has a partner, believes diversity is something which should be celebrated. Mangere TV producer Claudette Hauiti is one of two openly-gay National candidates this election. She is vying for a traditional Labour safe-seat which is currently held by Su’a William Sio. Hauti has been placed at 63rd on the National list so she has an outside chance of entering Parliament. Hauiti is of Ngati Porou and Nga Puhi descent, and previously worked in Education in Mangere. She established Front of the Box Productions, which produces Maori and Pasifika content including Maori Television's Takataapui. The predominantly business-minded candidate who is passionate about lifting people out of poverty and away from benefit dependency, also believes the Adoption Act is outdated and is passionate about working against bullying in schools, "including of takataapui which the National party finds particularly abhorrent," she says, adding "Many of our whanau who are welfare-dependant and have been for consecutive generations are very vulnerable. Tackling the needs of children, including those in poverty, requires a whole of government approach." Manurewa Former double sporting international Louisa Wall has moved from the rugby field and netball court into the political game, and is set to claim the Labour safe seat of Manurewa for the upcoming term, after two short stints in Parliament due to other MPs leaving. Incredibly passionate about youth, she is concerned about the bullying gay and trans kids face in schools and has told us she thinks making sure students know there is support available should be a key performance indicator for principals. "You shouldn't need a gay staff member in the school to push the issue. Because I do think there is a correlation between our high rates of youth suicide and just not having formal structures where young people can just talk about how they're feeling," she said. "It should just be a standard thing, where we want all our kids to be who they are and encourage them to be themselves. As a Rainbow Labour candidate, Wall is also pro same-sex adoption and marriage. She is in a civil union with her partner, lawyer Prue Kapua. Hunua At just 26, Richard Hills is Labour's youngest candidate. He is an elected member on the Kaipatiki Local Board, and also works part time as a manager of a restaurant. "I am passionate about community and have volunteered in areas that involve community, social issues and with various youth organisations," he says. Hills says he is a Labour candidate because he believes in a New Zealand that is fair and equal, "that supports ALL New Zealanders to be the best that they can be, and no one should have less of a chance to succeed or less rights and not face discrimination on age, gender, ability, race or sexual orientation." Hills is running against National incumbent Dr Paul Hutchison in Hunua and is ranked 50th on the Labour Party list, making him an unlikely addition to the Labour ranks this time around. Taranaki-King Country At just 23 Robert Moore is surely the youngest out candidate and most likely a voice of the future for the Green Party. Running in Taranaki-King Country, he is 50th on the party list so is not going to make it into Parliament this time around. Moore was born in Hamilton and is of Tainui Awhiro and Te Atiawa ancestory and is studying a GradDip in Social Policy. He is the student and regional organiser for the Unite Union and is the former co-convenor Rangitikei Rangitikei technologist and presenter Grant Seton is running as an independent. "The two main parties have been a disappointment to watch for my nearly three decades of listening to and watching them in action," he says. "Some laws, but overall, little practice of them with a continued underbelly of discrimination, and then voters have not been keen to pay a benefit for that discrimination." Seton adds that he was extremely disappointed with Chris Carter over-stepping his spending while in Parliament, which he believes has hurt our community's reputation overall. Mana With the way the Greens are polling Kapiti's Jan Logie is a near certainty to join out MP Kevin Hague in the party's Parliamentary ranks, thanks to her 9th place ranking on the list. Currently working as development manager for the NZ Centre for Sustainable Cities, she decided to get into politics because she was sick of shouting at the radio and decided it would be healthier to actually engage with the political process. "I want to be a person in Parliament who is accessible to the community and to groups working towards positive social change. I know from experience that it really helps to have people in Parliament who are on your side and who will work with you as a team," she says. Logie wants to advocate about the implementation of the recommendations of the To Be Who I Am report, bullying and discrimination in schools and workplaces, the right to adopt children and full equality under the law for all relationships. Wellington Central Once again there are two out candidates running against each other in an electorate, with Labour's Grant Robertson the incumbent in Wellington Central. Robertson is part of a hardworking trio that has shot up the party ranks in just one term, going into the 2011 election at 14th spot on the list and becoming Labour's spokesman for Health. On being gay, the former NZAF Trustee stated in his maiden speech to Parliament: "I am proud and comfortable with who I am. Being gay is part of who I am, just as is being a former diplomat, a fan of the mighty...Wellington Lions, and a fan of New Zealand music and New Zealand literature. "My political view is defined by my sexuality only inasmuch as it has given me an insight into how people can be marginalised and discriminated against, and how much I abhor that. I am lucky that I have largely grown up in a generation that is not fixated on issues such as sexual orientation. I am not - and neither should others be." Robertson is in a civil union with his partner, Alf. Also running in the Wellington Central electorate is Alliance candidate Kelly Buchanan, a software developer and part-time art student who describes herself as being "somewhere towards the lesbian end of bi". She's interested in politics because she feels she can't sit back and ignore the world's problems without trying to do anything about them. She says while Alliance might not have much support at the moment, it's still right. "It's been campaigning for regulation of coastal shipping for years, for example, and its policies would have prevented the Rena disaster. I don't see the point in supporting a party with weaker policies," she says. Buchanan sees adoption and gay marriage as areas that need to be sorted out, and adds "kiwis suffer at least as much as heterosexuals from unemployment and poverty, underfunded schools and hospitals, etc, and if we don't take drastic steps to respond to the threats of peak oil and climate catastrophe, we're all in trouble." She lives with her girlfriend of six years and a couple of pet cats. Ohariu He's already virtually guaranteed a seat due to his high ranking on the Labour list, but Charles Chauvel is also giving UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne a run for his money in the Ohariu electorate, with polls showing he's breathing down the longtime MP's neck. The former lawyer and NZAF Trust Board chair is a stalwart advocate for the glbti community, who got into politics after doing quite a bit of public litigation in the 1990s, including trying to get some grossly anti-gay hate publications being circulated by fundamentalist Christian groups declared indecent or objectionable after their publication led to assaults on lesbian and gay people and attacks on their property. He says this helped him to realise that using the parliamentary process from the inside to work for fairness was likely to be a more effective way of achievement change than any other. Chauvel is on 11th place on the Labour list and is the party's spokesman on Justice and the Environment. He married his partner Dave, a former police officer who is now in the recruitment business, in Toronto. Nelson The third of Labour's high-flying out MPs is Maryan Street, the former schoolteacher and Party President who is seventh on the Labour list is spokeswoman for Trade and Foreign Affairs, and has been vocal on glbti right issues overseas. At the GABA pre-election debate she explained: "Our policies are based on three principles, equality, safety, and dignity... that's all and that's everything. We believe in equality of human rights and no difference on the basis of sexual orientation. And we believe in sticking up for glbti rights, safety and dignity around the world, in those countries where people are beaten, tortured, killed, imprisoned because of their sexuality. There is a global responsibility as well as a local one." The newly-single Nelson resident is once again battling incumbent local Nelson MP Nick Smith in a blue electorate; however her list placing virtually guarantees her a seat. West Coast The Greens' Kevin Hague is ranked only behind his co-leaders on his party list and is running in the West Coast electorate against Labour's Damien O'Connor and the incumbent, National's Chris Auchinvole. Hague's overriding passion for the plight of glbti youth has been evident through his time in Parliament, and has included a rousing speech highlighting what young queer people facing in coming to terms with their sexuality, and also releasing research on how we can make it better, now, for young people. "As a gay adult in 2011 my life is now immeasurably better than it would have been back in the 1970s when I was coming out," he told the GABA debate in Auckland. "But for a 14-year old boy coming out in 2011 and starting to realise his difference, I don't believe that things are actually that much different. My greatest priority has been creating a supportive social environment for our young people to come out into." Hague lives near Greymouth with his partner. Dunedin North Otago University student Guy McCallum is running for ACT in Dunedin North. He is a member of ACT on Campus who is concerned about what prospects New Zealand has in store for those who are finishing their tertiary studies every year. "The sad truth is that for a lot of graduates, deciding to go overseas instead of staying here and applying their skills, is in fact the best option, if they want to earn more and pay less tax," he says. "Every time our productive young people use their common sense and make the move, New Zealand loses some of its potential and its ambition. Parents miss out on their grown children forming lives' of their own, within reach." McCallum believes ACT can turn this situation around. Clutha-Southland The only openly-bisexual candidate we have come across is the Greens' Rachael Goldsmith, who is standing in the Clutha-Southland electorate and is 37th on the party list. The busy candidate has done everything from working as a library assistant, a radio producer and a security guard, to a prostitute, a hotel cleaner, running her own events company, being a duty manager and a magazine editor. She explains getting into politics partially due to the loneliness of being 'out' in Invercargill. "I couldn't find a group of people who thought the same way I did, who were passionate about creating positive change on a macro level. Then came the Prostitution Reform Bill, the Civil Union Bill and Section 59. Sue Bradford became my hero, as did Metiria Turei and Georgina Beyer. I realised for the first time there were politicians who did practical things to give large numbers of vulnerable people basic human rights for the very first time. I wanted to be part of that." Goldsmith lives with her husband Carl and her 17-year-old stepdaughter and nine-year-old son. The couple's daughter, Liyah, passed away at 10 hrs old in 2006. List only One of the most powerful gay men in the country is the Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson, who has steadily been working on negotiating Treaty of Waitangi deals over the past term. Finlayson is a former lawyer who entered Parliament in 2005, and is ranked ninth on the National Party list. Known for his patronage of the arts, Finlayson served on the board of Creative New Zealand for six years and chaired the Arts Board from 1998 - 2001. He was also a Trustee of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Foundation and has been Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. The only out National MP, who notoriously does not give personal interviews, once told a gay audience he is an "odd fish", as he is gay as well as Catholic, has no partner and is celibate. Canada-born and Manurewa raised candidate Jordan Carter is ranked 40th on the Labour Party list. He has a background in the ICT area, having worked for InternetNZ until earlier this year as policy director, "seeking out solutions to the barriers New Zealand faces in taking advantage of all the Internet can offer to making this a better place to live," he says. "As someone born overseas, and as a proud member of Labour's group of Rainbow candidates, I bring to politics and to my understanding of New Zealand society the perspective of an outsider on some key fronts, by birth and by sexuality, as well as that of an insider (being a middle class Pakeha male with a professional job)," he writes on his party profile. Carter is currently single and lives in downtown Wellington. Jacqui Stanford - 24th November 2011