Three hundred people are expected at Saturday night’s Wellington Pride Festival launch at Parliament, with a star studded list of speakers kicking off the celebrations and paying tribute to 30 years of homosexual law reform. Celebrating the inaugural Wellington Pride Festival | Tū whakahīhī e Te Whanganui-ā-Tara, the formal opening will be an evening of remembrance, celebration, and looking forward to an exciting and bright future. With three hundred members of the public securing a seat in Parliament and over fifty more on the waiting list, the free event is far larger than organisers could have hoped for. The first section of the evening will feature speeches from activists of the Homosexual Law Reform including Trevor Mallard, Fran Wilde and Dana de Milo. “A big focus of the evening will be on the homosexual law reform era and feature speakers from the time,” says Co-Chair of Out in the Park, Adrienne Girling. Elizabeth Kerekere, Mani Mitchell and Bella Simpson will be among the diverse identities speaking in the second part of the evening on where we are today and where we are going. Hosted by Amanduh La Whore and Marcella de Tella MPs from the Rainbow Parliamentary Network; Jan Logie, Louisa Wall and Paul Foster-Bell are also among the distinguished guest speakers. With entertainment including hip hop dancers from Pump Dance Studios, the evening is sure to be full of surprises, will many more speakers lined up for a grand and star studded opening.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 3rd March 2016 - 5:36pm