The title of this recording is "Mani Mitchell". It is described as: Mani Mitchell from New Zealand talks about attending the human rights conference. It was recorded in Wellington Town Hall, 101 Wakefield Street, Wellington on the 16th March 2011. Mani Bruce Mitchell is being interviewed by Jim Whitman.  Their names are spelt correctly but may appear incorrectly spelt later in the document. The duration of the recording is 12 minutes. A list of correctly spelt content keywords and tags can be found at the end of this document. A brief description of the recording is: In this podcast Mani Mitchell from New Zealand talks about attending the human rights conference. The content in the recording covers the 2010s decade. A brief summary of the recording is: This document summarizes a podcast recorded at the Wellington Town Hall on March 16, 2011, featuring Mani Bruce Mitchell, who is interviewed by Jim Whitman. Over the course of a 12-minute conversation, the interview explores Mitchell's personal journey and reflection on societal shifts pertaining to LGBTQ+ rights and human rights movements from the perspective of New Zealand. The interview begins by delving into the past, where Mitchell reminisces about the time of homosexual law reform, marked by intense public debates and demonstrations. This era was characterized by vehement anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, with calls to isolate homosexuals from the rest of society, and such views were publicly expressed, even by elected officials. The memory serves as a stark contrast to the present-day acceptance and celebration of diversity. Mitchell reflects on personal struggles with identity and belonging, initially identifying as a lesbian and only finding true comfort in personal identity years later, with the support of key figures in the LGBTQ+ community. The discussion encompasses the evolution of self and the broader progression of social attitudes towards LGBTQ+ identities. The topic transitions to a human rights conference attended by Mitchell, representing a platform for discussing the advancement of rights and inclusion of diverse communities. Despite the progress made, Mitchell addresses the notion that the current framework of human rights may not fully resonate with all cultures and communities. It is suggested that creating a more universally embraced concept of human rights - one which better accommodates the diversity of the world - is necessary. Mitchell highlights the imperative shift from an exclusive paradigm that historically focused only on binary gender classifications and a limited understanding of sexual orientation to a more expansive appreciation of the LGBTQ+ spectrum. It's acknowledged that there is room for improvement, particularly in embracing a more global perspective that predates Western influences, potentially drawing from historical cultural practices and beliefs before the imposition of Christianity and colonialism. A pivotal point of the interview centers on the transformative power of gatherings like the human rights conference. It celebrates the event as a melting pot of cultural and experiential diversity, while also recognizing the voices still missing from the conversation - such as those from rural and disabled communities, as well as the economically disadvantaged. Mitchell touches upon the impact of narrative in fostering empathy and solidarity, emphasizing the strength found in diverse stories of oppression. The conference also serves as an invaluable networking platform, connecting individuals across continents and empowering participants with a sense of global community. Such events can amplify collective efforts towards advocacy and create the critical mass required for significant societal change. The full transcription of the recording begins:  Walking upstairs. You just told me about your experience during homosexual law reform. Would you like to say something about that again? Because, well, I've just turned 58. And while I don't think of myself as old at all, I am going back to homosexual law reform. And in this building, it wasn't as magnificent and as grand as it is in its restoration. Um, there was a would it have been some kind of gathering here in the town hall, and the two protagonists of the anti were on stage, and I'm just remembering them both. So worked up and and literally spitting with rage against us. And in those days, our paradigms were somewhat more simplistic. I stood under the lesbian woman's flag. Um, with it being OK to talk in New Zealand, that ho homosexuals, as we were all called then should be put on an island somewhere offshore and separated from the rest of New Zealand. And that was OK to do that in a public place. And what's more, one of these people was an elected MP. So to have come from that to the magnificence of town hall being taken over by this wonderful multiplicity of humanity. Um, and that's happened in my lifetime. And your own pathway. Well, that journey from, um what people would have thought in those days, a lesbian, a butch lesbian. I had very short hair and sort of stomped around in heavy boots. And, um, boiler boiler sort of suit, as was the clothing of the day I. I mean, I. I think about it a lot. Now, I had tried to find a place of belonging, and it was best fit at the time. And I realised if I said out loud to myself, I don't fit in this community. I didn't believe I fitted anywhere on planet Earth. So I I hung on somewhat uncomfortably to that place. And it would be for myself, personally, another 20 years before I would find the the space and the support of some pretty special people. Um, Doctor rodenberg, an out lesbian, one of those people who supported my unfolding of self to reach a place where not only can I walk around town hall, I could say a dance here and feel very comfortable in my own skin and and finding a place of my own voice was trying to explain to someone before that as a younger person, I was very shy and unconfident, and it's almost like two different people. So this conference, in some respects those that journey is a bit like the journey that many people have. I've gone through Oh, absolutely, as a as a representation of that. And as you were just sharing with me before, you know, people Wellingtons for the first time feeling like they they have a place. There's two things about that. How wonderful that is and isn't. It's so sad that it's taken so long, so many. It's in my own case, you know, wasted years. And I just say that with some gentleness, it's a reality. And, um, Dear God, let's hope that the youth of today, you know, they continue this journey and take everything to somewhere completely different because it needs to Human rights is the is the sort of cornerstone. Um, have has your appreciation of human rights changed at all? Um, so let's step back from myself. Until I started doing my own work and my own reclaiming, I wouldn't have even thought that I was entitled to rights. Certainly not how I experienced things as a child and as an adult. And now, of course, in terms of my out in public work, I was heavily involved behind the scenes in the human rights transgender inquiry here and participated in it as well. Um, Joy, who was one of New Zealand's human rights commissioners, is a member of my trust, so I think human rights are a very important part of what we're doing. But as has been challenged a number of times at the conference, human rights are a very individual way of looking at the world and perhaps not a completely appropriate way for people who come from a more inclusive family community, paradigm way of looking at the world. So, yes, it's a wonderful step forward. But I think there's some work for us to do to make human rights statements, um, taking those Carter principles that fit better with all of the planet, because at the moment, quite clearly, some people feel uncomfortable that they don't speak to them. And, you know, I think that's what this gathering this conference is about. It's not a bad thing. This whole thing is evolution, as I say, all those years ago when we were here in the the City Hall, we would have divided ourselves as a binary men and women. And we would have said that sexual orientation was what, Gay lesbian? That's as far as it went. You know, our diversity rainbow. All those letters are so much longer now and appropriately they should be. And I think we're going to come back to some kind of umbrella term that includes all of us. I were quite conscious of the fact that some human rights work, um, makes better that the damage done by what what countries have been forced to import. Really, you turn the clock back, and there's still the same people who might have been there before Christian or before a criminal. It's a very, um, Western, um, Eurocentric paradigm. And and I've wondered somewhat recently, I My genetic ancestry is, uh, Scotland and Ireland and and I wonder, what were my people's beliefs and systems before the arrival of Christianity and the Roman army? So II I think perhaps it is, as as we examine and have these opportunities to examine that we will. We will end up with something that is much more reflective of the diversity of planet earth and perhaps the privileged way of looking at humanity that is dominated for the last 200 years, at least anyway. The way things have gone in India, it sounded like the cornerstone is neither gender nor sexuality but sensuality. I wouldn't have put it like that, but I think that that's a very elegant and encapsulation of what we heard this morning with that wonderful presentation news that would lead, perhaps to an umbrella. Yeah, absolutely. And and I think that's that's why I feel so excited. And, um, I'm I'm very tired this afternoon. I haven't had the chance to sit and reflect. But I, I suspect that my sense is that this will be one of those, um, pivotal turning point gatherings and and and our evolution. Certainly people who have not really had that much to do with each other have sat and listened to stories of oppression. Really, The common one of the themes is oppression. So just two things I think the the the um, the power of story stories from the heart authenticity, and I think the other thing that's happened and it's happened thanks to the generosity of the Dutch government, and and I believe some of the money has also come from America. That's enabled, um, voices to be here that so easily could not have been here. And I think that that's part of the challenge. And there will be New Zealand voices that aren't here. That should have been here. Um, people from rural New Zealand, people from the disabled, people who are on benefits. So I think as we move forward, we absolutely need to think about how do we ensure that there are as many voices as possible at the table? That's not a criticism, because what is here is wonderful. I just think you know that there's been a very high, um, benchmark set with this wonderful gathering. So it's in Copenhagen. Is that right? The next? Yes, there's another couple of big events and I think it's up to all of us to distil what's happened here and and and then build on that. Certainly a young man said to me that it was the diversity here, which was the biggest message for him, that that which is perhaps reflects something of what you just said, that, um, you know, let's it's cultural diversity. There's a AAA wonderful diversity of age. I've really noticed that from youth to older people, um, of physical abilities. Um, someone said this morning that the one community that's probably not represented here is the deaf community, which, and I'm sure there are others. So, you know, we haven't achieved perfection. There are groups that have that are not here for all kinds of reasons, but, yes, our our rainbow flag here is certainly a very multifaceted one. And that's wonderful. Looking ahead at two levels, one taking stuff away that you'll say work with Is there something? And then the other thing is personal. Taking something away in particular that you well, I think one of the personally wonderful things for me is for many years I needed to leave Wellington to get my bucket nourished by people who saw the world in a similar way or not. So because that's not true. I've always had friends here, but people lived experiences were similar to mine. So to have the opportunity to, um invite and have some of those people here in my city, my home and of course, as a result of the last week. Um, my email address book will be much larger than it was prior to this, you know? And that will be contacts back to Europe. India. Um, I was talking to a a Korean man earlier, and I think that's what comes out of conferences like this, that the networking, the growing the and so one of the things that's going on, we are moving towards critical mass because individually, we can only do so much so yes, I. I feel like my professional and personal buckets have been actually at the moment the water is slopping over the top over full. What an extraordinary reality that is. The full transcription of the recording ends. A list of keywords/tags describing the recording follow. These tags contain the correct spellings of names and places which may have been incorrectly spelt earlier in the document. The tags are seperated by a semi-colon: 2010s ; Asia Pacific Outgames (2011) ; Christianity ; Copenhagen ; Europe ; Events ; God ; Homosexual Law Reform ; Human Rights Commission ; India ; Ireland ; Mani Bruce Mitchell ; Older People ; Out Loud ; Pacific ; People ; Rainbow flag ; Scotland ; Space ; Stuff ; Wellington ; Youth ; army ; authenticity ; belonging ; benefits ; binary ; building ; butch ; change ; community ; conference ; dance ; diversity ; email ; family ; friends ; gay ; gender ; government ; homosexual ; hope ; human rights ; humanity ; individual ; intersex ; journey ; law ; leather ; lesbian ; march ; opportunity ; oppression ; other ; power ; rage ; rainbow ; representation ; rural ; sad ; sexual orientation ; sexuality ; suit ; support ; time ; top ; transgender ; trust ; unfolding ; voice ; walking ; water ; work. The original recording can be heard at this website https://www.pridenz.com/apog_mani_mitchell.html. The master recording is also archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand.  For more details visit their website https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.1089467. Mani Bruce Mitchell also features audibly in the following recordings: "Mani Bruce Mitchell profile", "Session 4, Disability", "Session 5, Models of Activism", "Human Rights film evening", "Session 4 - Beyond conference", "Session 9 - Beyond conference", "Rainbow Pride Community Honours (2015) - Part 2", "Open mic sessions - Queer History in the Making", "Part 2 - Opening ceremony at Parliament - Wellington Pride Festival 2016", "Youth and Womens hui report backs - Proud 2016", "LGBTI* health plenary - Proud 2016", "Solidarity with Orlando Candlelight Vigil - Wellington", "Surviving and Thriving as an Activist - Proud 2016", "Dont Leave Out the I - Proud 2016", "Participants (part 1) - Shift hui (2016)", "IDAHOBIT 2017", "Rainbow elders panel (2018)", "Mani Bruce Mitchell (Intersex Awareness New Zealand) - Out in the Park (2018)", "IDAHOBIT 2018", "Whakarongo: Pride, ILGA World and beyond", "International Human Rights Day (2019)", "Out in the City (2021)" and "Tour of Out in the City 2024". Please note that this document may contain errors or omissions - you should always refer back to the original recording to confirm content.