The title of this recording is "Glen Bennett - Rainbow Politicians". It is described as: Glen Bennett from the Labour Party talks about being a Member of Parliament. It was recorded in Rainbow Room, Parliament buildings, Molesworth Street, Wellington on the 9th November 2022. Glen Bennett is being interviewed by Regis Perez.  Their names are spelt correctly but may appear incorrectly spelt later in the document. The duration of the recording is 18 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 Glen Bennett from the Labour Party talks to Regis Perez about what it's like to be a Member of Parliament. The content in the recording covers the decades 1990s through to the 2020s. A brief summary of the recording is: In an 18-minute podcast recorded at the Rainbow Room, Parliament Buildings, Wellington, Glen Bennett from the Labour Party engages in a conversation with Regis Perez about the life of a Member of Parliament and the journey to becoming an MP. Bennett shares insights into the influence of personal background on political engagement, the reluctance to enter politics, and the eventual decision to run for office. The discussion unfolds around topics that traverse the 2000s to 2020s, including the responsibilities and privileges of parliamentary representation, and the management of personal time in the political sphere. Bennett recounts initial hesitations about becoming an MP, stemming from a perception of not fitting the traditional politician mold due to a lack of formal education, high-profile career, or public renown. This led to multiple refusals to run for parliament until Bennett was convinced that the House of Representatives should include voices from all walks of life, including grassroots community members. The conversation turns emotional as Bennett gets candid about personal struggles, including coming to terms with internalized homophobia and facing discrimination and bigotry as an openly gay politician. Bennett recalls resisting homophobia from within before facing it on the campaign trail and in Parliament, while discussing the broader political effort to curb discriminatory practices through legislation like the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill. Reflecting on Bennett's formative years, the discussion addresses the challenges of frequent relocations and how this shaped interactions and identity exploration as a young person. The narrative discusses the complexity of coming out multiple times and at different ages, while highlighting the transformation of family relationships, indicating a positive change from the times of fearing rejection to full family acceptance and support, marking a notable journey from adversity to affirmation. The conversation also enlightens listeners on the needs of the rainbow community and emphasizes the importance of continued advocacy and nudging from the community to ensure that progress towards inclusivity continues. Bennett stresses the need for government support for medical and social services, advocating for an inclusive Aotearoa where 'coming out' is unnecessary because of societal acceptance. Bennett mentions personal heroes, such as Harvey Milk and Georgina Byer, as inspirational figures for their pioneering roles in politics as openly gay and transgender individuals respectively. Bennett's admiration for these trailblazers underscores the ongoing need for diversity and representation within Parliament and society. The full transcription of the recording begins:  I was always political, uh, and always engaged in campaigns and engaged in my local community. Um, I grew up in the Salvation Army, which was very much a, a social service faith organisation that was around, uh, helping, uh, the people in need. Those who struggle in our communities. And so that was, it was always a part of who I was in terms of how do we, how do I make change and make a difference uh, in, in my community. Uh, it was, so it was never from a, from a political in inverted commas with a capital P. It was always just being amongst people and fighting for people's rights, fighting for people's jobs and, and then I got asked to run. And no, actually no, I did get involved in the Labour Party, um, a number of years ago on the edges and then became a member with no intention of being an MP or a politician because that wasn't my thing. I was always grassroots. I was always the sort of organiser. Um, and then I got asked. And I said no, and then I think another cycle went by and they asked me again and I said no, and then the last time they asked me. Just I think things were a bit different and, and I thought why not put myself out there and try. And the reason I always said no was because I never saw myself as a politician. Um, I wasn't educated, uh, I wasn't some high flying... name or business owner or lawyer or have some huge public profile. I was just a community person so I kind of thought that politics and that didn't really match and then when someone talked to me about it and the, you know, it was called the House of Representatives and that really challenged me because Um, to be a house representative includes representation, right? So, it's not just lawyers and accountants and business owners and famous people. It's actually people in the grassroots. So I said yes, and here I am. Awesome. How has it been so far? It's, it's a crazy, it's a crazy place that is relentlessly, uh, greedy on your time and your life. Uh, so you have to prioritize it. It's a real privilege to represent, but it's a heavy privilege 'cause you hold the weight of your community and the weight of, uh, the weight of the, the, yeah. The present and future of your nation on your shoulders and as a, you know, in a back bencher. But that still weighs heavily on you in terms of, of people look to you. Yes. And they critique you and. So it's, yeah, it's, but it's, it's such a privilege and such a, the opportunities you get are incredible and the places and spaces you get to go into and meet people, um, yeah, it's always just, it's a humble privilege, but it's a heavy, like I say, it's a heavy privilege to kind of hold the weight of, of your community, and The direction of your nation, you know, no easy, no easy kind of, um, CB requirement. Yeah. Awesome. Um, have you experienced sort of any like treatment change with you being, um, like openly gay in parliament or any sort of things like that? Positive or negative? Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, yes. Um, so, Well, I'll start from, I'll start with myself, right? So then move beyond, beyond myself. So, the first meeting I had, when I, when I get to the point of, um, the local Labour membership in New Plymouth saying we want you to run, and I remember meeting with them for the first time, like I knew, I knew all of them, we were friends and I'd worked with them. And I had this, I think I had this internalised homophobia in myself. So, I remember the first meeting we had when they said, Look, we think, you know, you, you need to sign an adult line and put yourself forward as a candidate. And the first thing I said to them was, You do know I'm gay, right? And everyone in the room looked at me and went, uh, Uh, yeah. Uh, pretty obvious. Um, but it was funny. It was a personal thing where I thought, well I don't know if my community's really, you know, I'm a Pākehā, you know, middle aged man, so I've kind of got all these tick boxes of privilege. I'm gay as well, and I just, so my first, I think, bit of homophobia was towards myself. And so then getting across the line and then having that room, all of them looking baffled and like, why would you even bring that up Glen? But for me, it was something I thought, living in the provinces, you know, living in Taranaki, You know, there's real diversity, and there's a real arts community there, but it is still really conservative. So, so yeah, the first thing probably was me. Uh, on the campaign trail definitely had, had quite a bit of pushback on, like not huge, the ones and twos, not the, not the tens or thousands, but the ones or twos who would challenge me on, There's no way I could represent them because of who I am, which I still find baffling because people don't question whether you're left handed or right handed, or don't question whether you are, like I say, a trained lawyer or, you know, so how, I don't know, you know, you represent, as a representative, um, you're open. To represent all people, just because you happen to love someone of the same gender, or just because, you know, your um, your gender at birth doesn't match the gender you are now, that doesn't change your ability to represent all people. So, so I mean I had, I had some letters, some phone calls, I remember being at a, at a meet the candidates debate, where someone confronted me, and And so that was, I'd say it was neither here nor there, but it really, it still does kind of, you know, kind of, it can catch you, because you kind of forget sometimes what it's like in your world, but, you know, I'm kind of at a place now where you do forget that there is still discrimination and there is still Um, bigotry and there is still, um, people who, who can't accept us and, and then something happens and it kind of catches you off guard sometimes. In this place, like, as a, as an MP, um, again, there's been a couple of times when comments have been made, again, by constituents, which haven't been helpful, uh, and then, I guess, the biggest piece of legislation in my term, what has been the Uh, the Conversion Practices legislation which basically, well it doesn't basically, it bans the use of conversion practice or theory, therapy on an individual change their gender or sexuality. So during that there was, um, there was tens of thousands of Submissions, and then we had to sit on the submissions, so when people make a submission they can write it in, and they can choose to make an oral submission. And so to sit through that, I wasn't traumatised by that, but it was, it was nuts. Like, again, you think about how we're a progressive society, we've moved on, things are going wonderfully, and then you get this really conservative person who just... Who does pretty much just spit out hate or, or things that you think, Oh, I thought we were in the 21st century, but obviously we're not. So, you know, there's been those few moments, but in general and with my colleagues, it's um, You know, I feel affirmed and, and another nice thing about this place in recent years is bringing families and including families within parliament and going to conferences or being able to bring your partner or your husband or your wife or your family to the thing. So, being able to have my husband attend events and be part of The, the Palmtree Fano has been a, yeah, it's been really cool. Awesome. Um, you moved around a lot growing up, didn't you? And, how was that, you know, sort of when you're sort of dealing with your own identity and stuff like that, you know, you're always never in one place or too long in another place. Uh, was that tough? It's probably quite good because I could sort of hide. Yeah. So you didn't get too close to people. Uh, so I think that was the, and for me, you know, my, I didn't come out until I was late, until I was older, uh, and so I know as a young person, um, I was always social, but cautious, only from a young age, my sexuality, although I kind of articulated it, all that sort of thing you often hear, but, um, I think as I started to kind of get words and language for it, It was quite petrifying thinking if people found out. And so moving around lots was, um, yeah, it was always hard to lose friends and move on. But then at the same time, I say you could not be someone else but you, you could ensure you protected yourself from getting too close to people for then maybe to discover you know, who you are. Truth, truth, that kind of thing. So I'm gonna look back now and you, I, you know, I'd laugh at it, but yeah, it's um, Yeah, they're probably, but the other side of that probably would be if I'd been in one place and had stronger relationships, maybe I would have felt more affirmed to be more open and honest earlier, but we're here and you can't change history. Exactly, yeah. What age did you come out? Well, several, several ages, um, cause there's lots of, uh, So, I came out, the first time I came out, well, when you say come out, like when I first articulated to someone, uh, I was 19, uh, when I first came out to some of my family, I was 21. And in that, in the meantime, I had some, um, I came out to a few other people, but very, very few. Like, I was very cautious and very protective. I was in the church as well, so it was sort of, I had that kind of sitting on my shoulders and, you know, the fear of what that meant. And then a whole other decade went past. And, although I would come out, you know when I say come out, I'd disclose to the odd person here or there, it wasn't till, jeepers, I've got to do my numbers now, it wasn't till my thirties when I actually, uh, I was about thirty four, when it was, when I fully, when I fully came out, whatever that is. So I came out to my parents for the second time, because I'd come out to them in my early twenties and then in my early thirties, I actually said look, um. Yeah, just to be respectful of them. Um, you know, I'm not gonna be silent anymore on myself. I'm not gonna shout it from the rooftops. But I'm gonna be honest about who I am and... Yeah. Was that a supportive environment? Or a supportive final you grew up with? No, it wasn't. It, it was, as I say, the subway shalami, you know, for a bit of history. Um, you know, the piece of legislation, the first piece of legislation in this room, is the 1986, um, Homosexual Law Reform Bill, which basically decriminalized... Me. And, you know, the rainbow whanau from actually, um, being who they are. Um, and the Salvation Army was a big part of trying to stop that. Um, and so I, as a, as a sort of 8 and 9 year old, I don't remember a lot, but I do remember sort of trying to figure out what was going on in that. So that was always sort of sat in the back of my mind. And, you know, my parents being good church people and coming from a, In an era where it wasn't talked about or it wasn't condoned, um, it was tough and I know that, you know, initially they would have hoped that I didn't come out or just kind of kept quiet and carried on with life and it was all good, but um, but then to that, from that to when I got married. Um, my dad actually officiated our wedding and was, um, you know, was the, the, the celebrant who actually got us to talk to us through our vows and signed the... So you know, so it was a huge, so from that kind of, that fear and panic originally when I first came out to them years ago to, you know, to my father being the person who actually, um, married us. Full circle, man. I know, I know. Um, what could the Queer, uh, Queer community do to support Queer, uh, politicians? Keep turning up and keep challenging us, keep being a squeaky wheel. I really think in this place and in lots of parts of our culture and our world, unless there's a constant reminder of who we are or a constant reminder of where we'd need to keep going to, sometimes it can get lost in all the other things going on. I really think that, that we're moving in a good direction as a nation, in terms of inclusivity, in terms of our takatāpui, rainbow whānau, but I still think we've got a way to go. And I still think there's trauma, and I still know there's people who are too, you know, too afraid, or are still in a place where rejection by family or colleagues or friends is... It's still a thing. And so, what I'd ask is that our Rainbow whanau just keep, continue to push, nudge, challenge, and continue to be that squeaky wheel that ensures that we actually continue with the work that needs to be done. Like I, like this year's been a good year in many ways in terms of support, in terms of government funding. But again, it's still, it's still small chunks of money, like we've put, well I think it's two and a half million in this year's budget over the next couple of years into our intersex young people around safer, easier access to, um, just to medical support. Uh, you know, it's looking at sort of 8 different parts of the country where, um, you know, their intersex whanau has, um, can feel safe going to, to seek out whatever sort of medical attention they need, whether it's just the day to day stuff or, um, you know, there's those kind of things, there's, there's us putting funding, um, into our transgender community, uh, in terms of healthcare as well, but again, it's, it's still small amounts of money, uh, that I know that goes away. Thank you. But it doesn't go all the way to full inclusivity. What's your sort of future vision for Takatapui people, Aotearoa? Well, I just want us to be a country that is inclusive, and it's a word we throw around, but it means that... I mean, my dream... Is that no one has to come out, whatever gender orientation, belief system you have, that the whole notion of coming out is no longer a thing. That's the hope I have, where it's, because you have no need to come out, because there's no story, or backstory, or, um, justification, or, you know, like I was... at the airport on Tuesday morning and, uh, a gentleman came up to me and, uh, talked to me about his trans son. And they, they, they took money out on their mortgage this year to ensure that he got top surgery because they could see the, how important that was and, you know, the binding was painful and it just, it wasn't, it wasn't freeing, it was still oppressive. And the fact that You know, this, this family went, look, we're gonna, you know, add some more cash to our mortgage to ensure that our son can have the surgery that's necessary. And I, it is awesome, right? And we put a little bit of money into that space, but I would love to be in a country and have a government that's ensuring that people, you know, aren't having to, you know, I think there's, there's a responsibility on families to, you know, support and put money into their, into those spaces, but the fact that how do we ensure that our medical professionals, our services, that there's funding there to help those, because there aren't, there are people around who don't have the funding or don't have the ability to add money to their mortgage to, you know, to support their, their whānau. So, yeah, I want it to be an inclusive place where no one ever has to come out and that this, you know, The medical services, the social services, the mental health services, you know, are fit for everyone. And you don't have to tick a box to be this or that or the other thing to access a service. Who's your gay hero? Ooh! Well, so I go straight to Harvey Milk, because he was a politician. Um, and he was, you know, he was the first openly gay politician. I feel like it's a cop out though, that one. I mean, I don't know, he is a hero, so I don't mean that in a dismissive way. Um, I mean, I've, I've, I remember, I knew nothing of him, and of course the movie came out, so I watched the movie and then sort of started to read about him and understand who he was, and, you know, he had a very short, um, tenure as, as, as the mayor, uh, until sadly he was, he was shot and killed. Uh, I mean, the other one that comes to mind is Georgina Byer. The fact that she, in the late 1990s, in little old New Zealand, was the first, first transgender member of parliament, I think is absolutely incredible, and the work she's able to do. And the challenge I have, again, sitting here as a cis gay male, um, is that she's been the first and the only transgender member of parliament here in Aotearoa. And I think we need to be having that conversation around diversity, even within our own rainbow community. 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: 1990s ; 2000s ; 2010s ; 2020s ; Aotearoa New Zealand ; Events ; Glen Bennett ; Harvey Milk ; Homosexual Law Reform ; Member of Parliament ; New Plymouth ; New Zealand Labour Party ; People ; Regis Perez ; Salvation Army ; Space ; Stuff ; Taranaki ; Wellington ; access ; airport ; army ; arts ; backstory ; belief ; bigotry ; binding ; boxes ; budget ; campaigns ; capital ; celebrant ; change ; church ; cis ; coming out ; community ; conservative ; conversation ; culture ; difference ; discrimination ; diversity ; dream ; environment ; faith ; family ; fear ; flying ; friends ; funding ; future ; gay ; gender ; government ; growing up ; hate ; health ; history ; homophobia ; homosexual ; hope ; identity ; individual ; internalised homophobia ; intersex ; language ; law ; lawyer ; legislation ; love ; mayor ; mental health ; organisation ; other ; parents ; politics ; privilege ; profile ; queer ; rainbow ; rejection ; relationships ; representation ; sexuality ; social ; social services ; spaces ; straight ; struggle ; submission ; support ; surgery ; the other side ; time ; top ; top surgery ; tough ; trans ; transgender ; trauma ; truth ; wedding ; whānau ; work. The original recording can be heard at this website https://www.pridenz.com/rainbow_politicians_glen_bennett.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.1093087. Glen Bennett also features audibly in the following recordings: "Parliament: first reading of the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill", "Parliament: second reading of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Bill", "Glen Bennett maiden statement in Parliament" and "Meet your rainbow candidates - General Election 2023". Please note that this document may contain errors or omissions - you should always refer back to the original recording to confirm content.