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Auckland City's olive branch to gays

Wed 11 May 2005 In: New Zealand Daily News

In a historic move, the Auckland City Council has reached out to the city's GLBT community in the first of a series of meetings designed to engage with groups who have found it difficult to engage with the council under previous administrations. The Auckland City Council's new partnership committee will meet with a number of diverse groups over the next few months, including religious and ethnic minorities, but the GLBT community got the first bite of the cherry last week in a breakfast meeting attended by Mayor Dick Hubbard and senior councillors. Three of the city's four GLBT community board members were also in attendance. Lindsay Rae, of the Eden-Albert community board, says primary issues raised were safety in the inner city and greater council support of GLBT welfare groups, bringing them in line with support currently provided to cultural and sporting groups, as well as acknowledging the contribution of gay and lesbian citizens to the artistic and creative life of the city. Rae says there has previously been a reluctance from Council to be openly associated with GLBT causes. "I think there is now a political will within the majority of council to work constructively with a range of diverse groups in the city and the GLBT group is seen as an important part of what makes for the vibrancy of Auckland City," she says. "We're citizens and ratepayers, so we have the right to be respected by council the same as any other group." Mayor Dick Hubbard was said to have engaged positively with the meeting, signalling a final move away from his endorsement of an anti-gay letter to MPs last year. "I think everybody recognises that he was conned by a bunch of shoddy statistics and some people who he respected, but he's moved on and we've moved on," Rae says. Informal quarterly meetings will take place between gay community board members and the partnerships committee to ensure progress. Rae says its important for GLBT ratepayers to engage with the council, especially if they've felt disenfranchised by prior anti-gay administrations. "It's a different council, and a different political hue," she says. "If we don't bother to engage, then we can't moan that we're not listened to."    

Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff

First published: Wednesday, 11th May 2005 - 12:00pm

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