Fran Wilde, the MP who took the Homosexual Law Reform Bill into Parliament and successfully guided it through to a final vote decriminalising sexual intimacy between gay and bisexual men, has been made a Dame in the New Year's Honours list. Dame Fran Wilde Her contribution to Homosexual Law Reform in 1985/86 is specifically acknowledged in the citation attached to this morning's announcement that she is to be knighted as a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order. She says that in a long career in political and public roles Homosexual Law reform is the achievement she is most proud of. Wilde acknowledges that being knighted in significant part for working to bring then-reviled homosexuals out of the shadows of society could not have happened before Law Reform. "To think that someone who sponsored Homosexual Law Reform would get a knighthood would have been completely unthinkable. But things have changed so much." She points to gay pride events such as the Hero and Auckland Pride parades “with so many people celebrating who they were, with corporates wanting to be in on the act” as other clear signs of progress. Wilde says though she will now be formally known as Dame Fran Wilde "I hope no one will actually call me that. I'm still just Fran Wilde." The citation for her honour reads:WILDE, The Honourable Frances Helen (Fran), CNZM, QSO For services to the State and the community The Honourable Fran Wilde has held leadership roles in central and local government since the early 1980s. During her career Ms Wilde has held positions as a Member of Parliament, a Minister of the Crown, Mayor of Wellington, and Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council. As an MP she successfully sponsored the Homosexual Law Reform Bill in 1986. In the thirty years since then she has contributed significantly to a wide range of community groups and issues in a variety of roles. Early in 2016 she retired from the Wellington Regional Council and currently holds governance positions in several national and regional entities. These positions include Chair of the Remuneration Authority and the Wellington Lifelines Group, a Treaty of Waitangi Chief Crown negotiator, Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency and of the Capital Coast District Health Board, and director of Te Papa Tongarewa and the Whitireia-Weltec Council. Ms Wilde’s current community roles include Chair of Wellington on a Plate and of The Great War Exhibition, board member of Business Mentors NZ Ltd and a trustee or patron of several other organisations. If you would like to comment on Dame Fran's knighthood email us at news@gaynz.com
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 31st December 2016 - 5:15am