Te Mete and Joseph Bay of Plenty artist Te Mete Solomon Smith and his partner Joseph Hayes are the first finalists in ZM’s Fabulous Gay Wedding competition. Last month he held a fundraising auction of some of his work for the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, where Louisa Wall bought a portrait he’d painted of her to mark the passage of marriage equality legislation. The image is also on the front of the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill. “Feel so honoured to even be considered!” Te Mete says on the back of being selected as a finalist with Hayes. The four other couples in contention will be announced across this week. The winning pair will be married at St-Matthew-in-the-City at 8AM on the day marriage equality comes into effect in New Zealand, 19 August.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 1st July 2013 - 11:27am