10PM: The final Auckland service for gay kaumatua Henare Te Ua has drawn to a close and his body is now on the road to Gisborne for his final tangi. Te Ua, kaumatua to a number of gay organisations and mentor to many more groups and individuals, succumbed to cancer on Wednesday. Gay and lesbian mourners from around the country, as well as family, straight friends and media associates, packed Auckland's St Matthew's in the City church, where Te Ua was for six years the people's warden. Speakers included Dr Waiora Port, Peter Beck, Selwyn Muru, Jonathan Smith, Whai Ngata and Tony Franklin. MPs Charles Chauvel and Judith Tizard also attended. Te Ua, a grandson of Sir Apirana Ngata and a noted broadcaster for many decades, was lauded by most speakers for bringing together Maori and Pakeha, both within and outside the gay communities. They acknowledged a generosity of spirit, a sense of moral authority and a striving for professional perfection. It was noted that he admired and enjoyed the poetry of Hone Tuwhare and TS Elliot. At the end of the long and emotional service six gay pallbearers conveyed him out of the church to start the long trip south to his final resting place. Ref: GayNZ.com (j)