Kym Strathdee

This summary outlines the core elements from an extensive recorded interview with Kym Strathdee by Gareth Watkins, which was conducted at Aura Hotel, Wellington, on June 17th, 2022. The interview delves into Strathdee's life experiences, reflections, and the social history of the LGBTQIA+ community in Aotearoa New Zealand across multiple decades, starting from the 1950s.

Strathdee begins by discussing a tumultuous childhood characterized by constant movement between foster homes and countries, including Fiji. These experiences were initially sources of pain but later transformed into a grounding in diversity and cultural understanding that informed their resilience and worldview.

The 1950s Auckland that Strathdee grew up in was a melting pot of cultures, predominantly Māori, which heavily influenced their early perspectives on life. The interviewer, Watkins, prompts Strathdee to describe this era and its impact, including their observations of everyday life, community, and emerging understanding of queer identities.

Strathdee recalls an impactful figure from their youth, Victor Motu, whose confident self-expression in a conservative time left a lasting impression. Strathdee's engagement with Christianity brought both a sense of belonging and an eventual disillusionment as they grappled with the church's views on queer identities. This internal conflict steered Strathdee towards advocacy for inclusivity, particularly within the LGBTQIA+ community and in their current work supporting people with disabilities.

During the 1950s and beyond, awareness of and attitudes towards queer people evolved, accompanied by personal experiences of inappropriacy, cultural expressions, and burgeoning political activism. The narrative shifts to explore Strathdee's involvement in the diverse queer landscapes in Auckland and Wellington, including their immersion in nightlife, venues such as the drag nightclub 'Talk of the Town,' and their interactions with prominent figures like Carmen Rupe and other entertainers.

The emergence of the gay community as a more visible and cohesive entity is discussed, alongside the tensions between inclusivity and exclusion. Strathdee reflects on personal milestones, such as leaving the church and training in psychiatry, which further accentuated their commitment to social justice and support for marginalized groups.

Photography emerges as a central theme in Strathdee's life. Self-taught and pragmatic, they describe capturing moments and people that resonate with them, rejecting technical prowess for the fulfillment of recording fleeting interactions and vivid realities. Strathdee's practice is inclusive, preferring candid shots over staged portraits and valuing the authentic over the contrived.

The interview concludes with Strathdee's thoughts on community documentation and the power of preserving the lived experiences of individuals, both those triumphant and the everyday. They reflect on the significance of legacy, loss, and the ways in which both personal and collective histories are pieced together through shared and archived narratives, emphasizing the role of such records in honoring and remembering the essence of people and moments long past.

This summary is created using Generative AI. Although it is based on the recording's transcription, it may contain errors or omissions. Click here to learn more about how this summary was created.

Kym Strathdee

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