Tania Simon Tania Simon is a co-presenter of Maori TV's gay Maori lifestyle programme Takataapui. Who are you as a person and what is your background? Ko Whakarara te maunga, Ko Tokerau te marae, Ko Mataatua te waka, Ko Ngati Rehia, Ngati Kura me Ngati Torehina oku iwi. Ara, ko Tania Simon ahau. I was bought up in the north - Te Tii, Kaitaia, Keri Keri, Kawakawa and Moerewa. I was raised by my grandparents who were prominent figures in the United Pentecostal Church, and living with my mothers' 8 (out of 13) siblings and their 9 children. I then moved to live with my mother at the age of 10. It was then that I discovered the joys of playing sport and wearing shorts, as it was prohibited wearing anything above the knee and having bare arms with UPC. I came out 18 years ago, a young singlet-wearing, barefoot, guitar-playing teen in my first year at Teachers Training College in Auckland surrounded by a whole lot of women touting support for the Homosexual Law Reform. I thought at that time that they were pretty ‘cher'. I'm a qualified teacher, Tri-lingual Interpreter (Maori, English, NZ Sign Language), jack of all trades, master of none. I love to fish, eat, drink, blob, play guitar although not a composer, I'm really just a tutu from Te Tii. I've had a myriad of experience, spending time in Sydney, Easter Island and travelling extensively throughout NZ. I've done events co-ordination, teaching, social work (both here and abroad), film and television. Now, I reside in Helensville, commuting to the city daily, living with my beautiful and supportive partner, Linda. What have you hoped to achieve by your work at Takataapui? Well, it is quite a surprise to be here for a start, but hoped that we would be able to tell some stories that haven't yet been told by our community. To show that Te Reo plays a major role in the Takataapui community and to give a face to who we are for middle NZ, including whanau, hapu, iwi. What characterizes the NZ GLBT community for you? The diverse nature of our community, its strength, its ability to come together as the need arises, to lobby for change and recognition. We are a unique community in the world by virtue of who and where we are. What is the worst thing for you about being GLB or T? Being an acronym! Ummm, attending smokey bars with loud, bad music with no room to move! Lots of segregation. We have too much selfishness in our community that the older we get, the less involved we become in the wider GLBT community. For one, it is not a welcoming place for rural GLBT. There's nothing untoward about being lesbian, its being in a society where we still have to justify and label ourselves for others' clarification. Not having any good venues to go to chat, dance, hangout. Why the hell do we need two separate Business Associations, aren't we part of the same community! What is the best thing about being GLB or T? Normalising our existence. Being supported by my whanau, having the same rights as heterosexuals. Relationship staus? Monogomous, married and totally infatuated with my darling, Linda Fell. Favourite food and drink? Kaimoana (all of it), Thai, Japanese, and any drink that wets my whistle! Speights with a whiskey chaser! Worst habit? Breaking and pulling at my split ends! Ignoring housework! Most noble feature? I'll have a go at anything, give anything a try, my girlfriend will say, I'm rip, shit and bust, but God loves the tryers! I will go to heaven… Favourite TV Programme? Takataapui, DNZ, local productions. Qualities you most appreciate in a GLB or T person? Honesty, humour and spontaneity. What are you reading at home at the moment? The Monthly Gardener and Bryce Courtney's latest novel Tommo Hawk. Who in the world including NZ would you most like to have coffee and a chat with? kd lang, and have the day with my honey catching up after a long stint in the television industry. What is the most pressing issue currently facing the NZ GLBT community? The fear that John Banks may get back in as mayor of Auckland! Or his protégé Dick Hubbard. Internalised Homophobia. GayNZ.com - 14th September 2004