Mon 8 Aug 2016 In: Our Communities View at Wayback View at NDHA
Tuesday 9 August: Since this interview was published yesterday Lexie Matheson has responded here. Auckland Pride has responded here and here. Advocate and community leader Phylesha Brown-Acton says Lexie Matheson, who has recently been re-appointed to the Auckland Pride Festival Board, has previously publicly “verbally attacked and slammed” members of the Board, including herself, with “racist, inappropriate and unforgiving statements” and that the community should be questioning the process of her re-appointment. Phylesha Brown-Acton She has also shed light on her time as a member of the Auckland Pride Board and says when raising race inequality issues she faced gate keeping, manipulation, racism, transphobia, ignorance and deceit. Phylesha, who is an indigenous person to Niue Island and identifies with the term ‘Fakafifine’, says Māori and Pasifika queer and trans communities are not fairly represented within community organisations and events, and that it is problematic that the Auckland Pride Board currently has no-one of Māori or Pasifika heritage to represent these communities. Lexie Matheson, who is a university lecturer in events, project and arts management and trans activist, was re-appointed to the Auckland Pride Festival Board less than a week ago and had previously resigned from a position on the Board in November 2014, following the resignation of the Festival Director at the time, Julian Cook. At the time she stated that she had been at odds with Board members regarding the direction and the decision it made not to speak out on important matters. “I have no ill-feelings about her”, says Phylesha, “I barely know the person, my issue is the process with her re-appointment considering she has verbally attacked and slammed many voluntary members of PRIDE publicly for reasons other than trying to place blame and speak untruthfully of others.” She is referring to comments Lexie made on Facebook during the time Phylesha was serving on the Auckland Pride Board. The comments - which a member of the pubic took a screen shot of and sent to her at the time - were made publicly on Facebook and Lexie was in conversation with people Phylesha says she is not connected with. She believes the comments were made in reference to her as she was serving on the Board at the time they were made. The comments, that the screenshots show are written by Lexie, read “Me too, [name] Gutless. And the transwoman of colour on the board? What’s her agenda? Oh, that’s right. She’ll do whatever gets her the best deal.” “Yes, [name], my community has been cast adrift and the idea that there’s a transwoman on that board makes me want to vomit!” One of the screenshots sent to Phylesha during her time on the Auckland Pride Board. In regards to these comments, Phylesha says “The screenshots speak for themselves, they were obviously written when I was a APFI board member of recent, regardless whose Facebook page and protecting the anonymity of the persons, the context is they are public statements made by Lexie about me via social media, placing the colour of my skin into question as something inadequate, questioning my agenda which is obviously to represent Pasifika LGBTQI peoples and their families, attributing the colour of my skin as something that bastardises me to be a beggar that would take anything I can get the best deal for! The second screenshot sent to Phylesha during her time on the Auckland Pride Board. “And that her other statement clearly speaks for itself, She is a trans woman, that thinks I as a trans woman makes her want to vomit, ignorantly labelling me as a trans woman when I am firstly an indigenous person to Niue Island and the term I identify with is “Fakafifine”, so please stop forcing westernised labels on me, my body and being is not for you to further colonise and abuse!” Phylesha served on the Auckland Pride Board for two years, from 2014 and resigned in July this year. She has worked for Pasifika queer and trans communities here and abroad for over two decades, including at the New Zealand AIDS Foundation and as the support service manager at the Pacific Islands Safety and Prevention Project Inc.(The PROJECT). She says when she was appointed to the Board during the process that she underwent - which included being nominated by a member of Parliament, supported by her constituency to apply, submitting a written application and an interview process before a panel - the Board members, including Lexie, agreed to her appointment. “APFI has over time been overwhelmed and bombarded with community politics and having to deal with that as a priority over the more important internal matters,” she says. She says she believes the community should be asking what the process of Lexie’s re-appointment has been. “A 360 peer evaluation process should have applied for her application and taking into consideration her previous unprofessional behaviour of publicly slamming others and now defaming a previous APFI board member via social media and taken into consideration her behaviour that misleads community, which are integrity and professional concerns for anyone in a governance role. Governance roles should never support the personal or ego agendas of anyone.” Lexie Matheson She says Lexie’s appointment to the Pride Board also raises the question as to whether this creates a conflict of interest as she is also a member of the Auckland Council Rainbow Advisory panel who fund, through ATEED, the festival. “Firstly, her role on Pride is voluntary, there is a pecuniary conflict of interest here as her role on the Auckland City Council Rainbow Panel is a paid position by rate payers and Pride receives its core funding from ATEED, an Auckland City Council organisation. “Secondly, has she resigned from her role as an advisor to the Auckland Council Rainbow Panel? “It still poses the question of “power and influence” she has at decision making levels, considering the racist, inappropriate and unforgiving statements Lexie has made, highlighting also the purpose of the Auckland City Council Rainbow Communities Advisory Panel is to; Provide strategic advice to Auckland Council on issues of significance to Auckland’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, Intersex and Takataapui or Rainbow communities and to help the council engage effectively with these communities, this is about the safety of our Rainbow community and I do not feel safe having someone at the helm in decision making who holds such hatred towards another. “How can I and others have faith and trust in that kind of leadership that publicly and racially abuses another? That is hatred, a professional bias and contradiction in itself.” When asked whether she feels Māori and Pasifika queer and trans communities are fairly represented within queer and trans community organisations and events, Phylesha says “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see the inequity within leadership in the “Rainbow” community and you have to question why these entities exist and who they are truly serving? “APFI has no one of Māori or Pacific heritage to represent these constituencies, this is a no brainer, and at all times leadership for these communities and other ethnic communities should always be factored in governance positions, just as gay, lesbian