The man responsible for removing fa'afafine performer Lindah Le Pou from a scheduled appearance at the Pasifika Festival minutes before she was due on stage has resigned his position with Auckland City, and the Council has issued a formal apology. “We wish to express our deepest apologies to the committee members and to Lindah E for any offence created by the last minute change,” said Auckland City's Leisure Services manager Paul Heron in a statement. “We expected the decision of the organising committee to be honoured and are very disappointed that it wasn't adhered to." Le Pou was scheduled to present the award for best male artist at the Pacific Music Awards ceremony, but her appearance was cancelled as she stood in the wings waiting to go on. She was told the reason for her removal was because there were Christians in the audience that would be offended because she was fa'afafine, which the Council denied. Auckland mayor Dick Hubbard said the decision to remove Le Pou was “not appropriate or condoned by Auckland City”, and said that the entertainment director responsible for the decision had since resigned his position with Auckland City. Although she has received a personal and formal apology from the Council, Le Pou has not yet received one from the man who made the decision to oust her from the programme. "I was embarrassed in front of 15,000 people," she told GayNZ.com. "I will be taking this further, and I'm dealing with the Human Rights Commission at the moment."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 14th April 2005 - 12:00pm