Tue 18 Sep 2007 In: Hall of Fame View at Wayback View at NDHA
Lindsey Rea Lindsey is a Community Board chairperson and a Justice of the Peace. She now wants to become Auckland City's first out lesbian City Councilor. We got to know more about Lindsey and what she can offer Auckland's council. How long have you been Chair of the Eden/Albert Community Board? What are your personal highlights of that time? I have been chair for this term. That's nearly three years now. Personal highlights have been: · getting proper local consultation about the development of Kingsland to support the World Cup the formation of a new and thriving Kingsland business association, · the planning of an inclusive park at Owairaka rather than one given over mainly to organised sport · assisting to pressure Transit to look seriously at undergrounding State Highway 20 · development of a partnership with the GLBT community and the Mayoral support for the 20th anniversary of Homosexual Law Reform What can Auckland City Council do to better support its LGBT community? During this term, Auckland City has had a much better relationship with our communities. We can keep that up, and we can look at further support in the shape of a partnership to develop a community centre on the Liquor King site in Ponsonby Rd which Auckland City has bought for public space and which could have a focus for the GLBT community. Tell us about your background, and where you grew up. I was born in Dunedin, but largely grew up in Auckland. I went to University here and in Wellington. Pretty ordinary middle class family, my father was a doctor and my mother a child psychotherapist. I have 4 younger brothers and 9 nephews and nieces. When did you come out as lesbian, and what was it like for you at the time? I came out in Wellington, in the early 1970's, largely through the feminist movement. My family were supportive, (and in another country at the time) so there were not too many dramas. What's your relationship status? I am in a Civil Union with Doreen, my partner of 21 years. We had our Civil Union in January last year, surrounded by family and friends. It was a great day. What do you think are the most pressing issues currently facing the NZ's gay community? What we have on paper has to be put into practice and we need to be active to make sure things do not go backwards with more conservative local or central government. Which LGBT people do you most look up to? · Carmen, who was out there and who she was when I was first coming out in Wellington. She was very supportive of the lesbian community at a much more conservative time. · My friend, Denise Yates who was the first out lesbian City Councilor I knew of. She was elected twice in Waitakere City. · Also Trevor Barnard who was the first out gay Councilor at Auckland City. What's your worst habit? Spending too much time playing stupid computer games. Which books are you currently reading and recommending? I read a lot of crime fiction and true crime stories. I went to see Karin Slaughter speaking at the Women's Bookshop on Friday and I will start on her series when I finish what is on my table at the moment. Your favourite music at the moment? I am a child of the 1970's so my music is all very old. The most recent is from the 1980's - some of the early political punk like the Poison Girls and John Cooper Clarke. Your favourite movies? Last movie I saw was the one about the Dixie Chicks, the one where they stood up to George Bush and the conservative country music scene. I ran a small theatre once, (I know every reel change in “The Sound of Music”) so I am fussy about what I see. Old favorites include musicals like “The Rocky Horror Show” and “The Last Waltz”, old sci-fi like “The Blob” and newer takeoffs of that genre like “Mars Attacks”. Your favourite TV programmes? CSI, SVU and the Food and Living Channels. Your favourite websites? Public Address, the City Vision website, Scoop, No Right Turn and Peebs.net which is a website for those escaping from the Exclusive Brethren. Interesting revelations about how weird and dangerous those people really are Who in the world (including NZ) would you most like to have a coffee and a chat with and why? John Cooper Clarke. He is an obscure Mancunian ranting poet of the 1980's. Did a lot of good work describing the alienation of Britain in the Thatcher years. I saw him in Birmingham in 1985. He was here for the last Big Day Out, but I was too busy to go. I really like his work and the way he puts it across. If you could have one wish granted what would it be? I would like to be Auckland City's first out lesbian City Councilor. GayNZ.com - 18th September 2007