The new young National Party MP in New Zealand's LGBT capital says she's very supportive of the gay and lesbian community, and was a huge fan of Ponsonby Road's Hero Parade. Fresh face: National's Nikki Kaye Auckland Central's Nikki Kaye, 28, told the Ponsonby News she should like to see the parade return in the future – and promised to continue her Labour predecessor Judith Tizard's strong support of performing arts in culture in central Auckland. "One of the issues is there's a lack of venues for the performing arts and that is something I'm interested in," she said. 2006 research by the NZ AIDS Foundation suggested 45% of New Zealand's gay men live in Auckland, and the inner city suburbs are also home to a large number of lesbian households. Long-serving Central Auckland MP Judith Tizard lost out to Kaye by a slim margin at the election last month. The Labour Party stalwart was a reliable supporter of the area's LGBT citizens, and had held her campaign launch in Caluzzi drag cabaret bar. A letter and editorial in Ponsonby News paid tribute to Tizard's years of hard work representing Auckland. "Ponsonby's fashion scene is so strong because of what she has done as well as the great support she gets for the art and music scenes," read one letter. "Many thanks to Hon Judith Tizard for being such an extremely hard working and passionate advocate for us."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Sunday, 7th December 2008 - 10:32am