Henare Te Ua, much-respected radio broadcaster and kaumatua of the NZ AIDS Foundation and Auckland Community Church, died at midday today, aged 73, after a long battle with cancer. He is survived by his sons and his long-term partner Dudley Moir. Henare Te Ua was awarded the Queen's Commendation Medal in 1990 and the Queen's Service Medal in 1992. He was of the Ngati Porou tribe, and was a close friend of the Maori Queen, Dame Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, who passed away last August. Te Ua's forty-year radio broadcasting career began in 1965. In an interview with GayNZ.com last September he said he had always been out as gay to friends and colleagues. “I've never felt the necessity of having to hide or shield that fact that I'm gay. Nor have I ever felt ill-at-ease with any culture or atmosphere I've ever been part of,” he explained. He also mentioned his sexuality briefly in his 2005 autobiography, ‘In the Air'. Te Ua's body will be taken to Auckland's St Matthew in the City church on Friday at 10.00am until that evening when he is to be taken to Gisborne for a tangi of national significance. Ref: GayNZ.com (m)