Mon 8 Aug 2016 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Community leader and advocate Phylesha Acton Brown has voiced concerns regarding the representation of Māori and Pasifika communities within queer and trans community events and organisations, including the Auckland Pride Festival Board. Participants in the Auckland Pride Festival 2016. Photo: Andrea In a hard-hitting interview following the appointment of trans activist and educator Lexie Matheson to the Auckland Pride Festival Board, Brown-Acton says during her time on the Board when raising race inequality issues, she was met with transphobia, racism and ignorance among other things. She says the Auckland Pride Board currently has no-one of Māori or Pasifika heritage to represent these communities and cannot fairly represent these communities until it “actually consults “Transgender peoples, of different ages, with Maori whakawahine, Pasifika peoples, families (parents) of transgender peoples, disabled transgender peoples, transgender peoples of colour, young transgender peoples, transgender business owners and the list goes on and not making the process a tick box exercise but more so a meaningful process without bias and that the tides of leadership are more balanced, accountable and transparent and that trans peoples are no longer vilified or alienated by community and that community stand in solidarity with trans peoples. She believes transgender and transsexual peoples need to be welcomed and given opportunity into governance positions or nurtured into these positions. Read the full interview here.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 8th August 2016 - 6:51pm