The vexed issue of the inclusion of Corrections staff in the Auckland Pride Parade was a prominent part of last night's public hui at which glbti people could express their views on the Auckland Pride Festival and parade. A very vocal group from No Pride In Prisons stated statistics illustrating the poor and sometimes appalling experiences of trans people in what they called the prison system's "toxic masculinity culture" in which "gay men and trans women are more likely to be picked on." They reiterated their position that by Auckland Pride's own human rights standards "Corrections should not be in the parade." When it was suggested that there are people who are proud to be openly gay employees of Corrections, NPIP's Ti Lamusse said "people in Corrections should not be proud." Other subjects to be covered included suggestions for better communications and timeliness of information, Pride and contributing organisations and event creators being able to look ahead several years in their planning instead of the current year-to-year situation, and more attention to scheduling of events to avoid clashes and cannibalising available audiences.. More events for young people were suggested and Pride board members present advised they are working on a plan to foster young talent and energy and help young glbti people come together to pool resources and ideas. And it was noted that, apart from the new Proud To Play sports festival which ran concurrently with Auckland Pride, nearly all events were concentrated on the CBD. The timing of the Auckland Pride Parade was discussed with board members saying that although protest action this year made judging how the daylight/night-time balance worked out they felt the timing was about right. They felt the north-south direction of the parade was a great success. At the previous hui, last Saturday afternoon, the situation of lower-socio-economic groups was raised and the possibility of free events floated, also workshops and discussion groups. It was suggested there were too many theatre events and not enough social events, though, ironically, it was also suggested there were too many parties. There was criticism of Corrections minister Judith Collins presence in the parade and discussion of the balance of corporate vs. community parade entries and the role of straight participants. Board Members were firm in their view that the Parade is for all glbti people and they said they understood that stance could create some conflicts and tensions.
Credit: GayNZ.com daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 2nd June 2016 - 10:41pm