The organisers of Hamilton Pride say the launch on Sunday night of their week's worth of LGBT social events refutes the Springboks trainer's claim "there is nothing in Hamilton". Hamilton Pride: Guests at the launch gathering "Our launch was excellent," Hamilton Pride's Stefan Mutter tells GayNZ.com. "We are extremely happy with the turn-out. "The grand opening evening at the Academy of Performing Arts started with a blessing from Te Hau Whenua Kirkwood. The host of the night Miss Gloriousole welcomed Daphne Bell from the Hamilton City Council, David Bennett, the MP for Hamilton East and our guest speaker Labour MP and member of Rainbow Labour Charles Chauvel for whom she later on sang a song of appreciation for his work and efforts for the Rainbow Community. "Local theatre group Sknox and mittens delightfully introduced us to baking kisses and showed us an aspect of Harry Potter's life that has been hidden in the books so far, or did you know that he lived with his lesbian grandmother in Morrinsville?" laughs Mutter. In his speech, Charles Chauvel highlighted New Zealand's legal achievements for the LGBT communities since Homosexual Law Reform, but also mentioned shortcomings like the need to include the transgender community into the anti-discrimination laws and future challenges like gay adoption and the Homosexual Advance Defence. "He reminded us to celebrate the achievements in our community but also to continuously being aware and working for an accepting, prejudice-free and equal society where everyone is treated with dignity," adds Mutter. "This aspect of celebration is also important for Daphne Bell, a member of the Hamilton City Council. She urged us on celebrating not only to strengthen the bridges within our Rainbow community and with the wider community but also for the image of Hamilton itself, as according to the Springboks trainer 'there was nothing in Hamilton'. Let's follow Daphne's call and make this week as fabulous as possible!" Hamilton Pride '09 continues with events all week and concludes with a dance party at Shine nightclub on Saturday night. Find more information about what's happening on the links below.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 15th September 2009 - 12:58pm