New Wellington GLBTTFI Gardening Group
Research opportunity
Red
Ribbon Street Collection
Out Takes 2008
The Law and sexual orientation
Downstage – The Little Dog
Laughed
Gender and Women's Studies at Victoria
University
Book review - Mates & Lovers: A
History of Gay New Zealand by Chris Brickell
Work, Love and Play in Diverse
Family Life in Australia and New Zealand
AGM
May 2008 Chair’s Report
Treasurers
Report 2008
The
Homophones - Wellington Gay Men’s Chorus
Rural Blokes Christmas Function
Michael Shale has come to the party and
made an offer to host a
Christmas Rural Blokes function at the Marquis of Normanby Hotel
- 63
High Street North in Carterton.
He is completely refurbishing the
dining room and has offered the Rural Blokes the chance to christen it on
Sunday December 21. Drinks will start from 5pm and we aim to eat from 7pm.
We have graciously agreed to this and
have further agreed that Dilip will prepare an Indian
feast (well it is Christmas after all!) for which there will be a $25 charge
per head.
To help keep costs down Michael has
very kindly agreed that we can BYO drinks.
If required there are 25 bedrooms available
at a flat rate of $45 single or $65 double. To book, please phone 06 379 7960
If you are going to attend please reply
to this email by December 14th to let us know numbers.
Alternatively you could ring Grant on 06 379 6662 or Derek on
04 970 9793 by the same date.
Launch of new Wellington GLBTTFI Gardening Group
At
11am on Sunday 7 December (wet or fine), a new GLBTTFI Gardening Group is being
launched with a garden tour and barbeque in a large secluded garden just north
of Wellington.
The
group is for Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Takataapui, Transgender, Fa'afafine and
Intersex people of all ages who have an interest in gardening, and their
friends and partners.
Apart
from a programme of social events and providing an opportunity for GLBTTFI
gardeners to meet each other, other ideas for the group are that it could
provide a forum for exchanging knowledge, ideas, plants, cuttings and
energy.
Some activities already
identified include visits to members’ gardens, participation in other events of
interest to gardeners, a stall at the Wellington Gay and Lesbian Fair and
visits to public gardens and garden centres.
It
is also proposed that a future challenge is considered to the gardening
hegemony of our northern brothers and sisters – the Hero garden
tour.
If
you’d like to come, please RSVP to rawiri@gardener.com
and bring gumboots and food to share.
If it’s hot and you like swimming in cold creeks, bring togs too.
Please
note that this group will build on the great work that Greg, Des and John did
in establishing the 3Gs group, and has their support as its successor.
David
Mulholland
Research opportunity
- quantitative data collection
We are looking for a junior researcher to work on a project
relating to sexual orientation data collection in probability surveys. I would
appreciate your help finding suitable candidates.
Key tasks are to prepare an annotated bibliography of selected
research literature, contribute to the analysis of statistical data and write
up findings. The person will be provided with support and guidance, and will
have the opportunity to participate in conferences and contribute to
publications. Ideal would be an emerging researcher who is interested in
pursuing work in this area, eg a postgraduate student.
There is some flexibility with time commitments (number of hours
and when work done); we envisage at least 100 hours work by completion of the
project in July 2009.
We are looking for someone with:
·
a LGB or queer
perspective, with a good understanding of issues relating to sexual orientation
·
at least a basic
understanding of statistics/quantitative research
·
interest in
methodological research on sexual orientation data collection
·
writing skills
-
The
project is based in Wellington, but applicants in other areas will be
considered, as we have some flexibility in our arrangements. At least a week
will need to be spent in Wellington, probably sometime between 26 January and
22 February 2009.
Please ask any potentially appropriate person to get in touch with me by
November 23rd, with their CV and a brief covering letter addressing the points
above.
Gabi Rosenstreich
Senior Analyst, Social Inclusion & Participation
Ministry of Social Development - Te Manatu Whakahiato
Ora
PO Box 1556, Wellington
Phone +64 -(0)4- 978 41 73
Email: Gabi.Rosenstreich002@msd.govt.nz
RED RIBBON
STREET COLLECTION – FRIDAY, 28 NOV, 2008
As part of World AIDS Day, the
Awhina Centre will be holding their annual street collection in Wellington on
Friday, the 28th of November.
If you are able to help with
collecting, could you please let me know what time you are available, in what
area you would like to collect, also please notify us if you would like to be
placed with another collector. (Even half an hour of your time would be
appreciated).
Collecting times are 7am –
3pm. There is also a “pub run” in the early evening where teams of collectors
go in to the pubs in central Wellington (5.30pm – 7pm).
In the past, Wellington has
collected the most money in the country, apparently our Auckland office is
looking at doing better than us this year; that is not allowed to happen so it
will be “all hands on deck” for the 28th!
I look forward to hearing from you
by either phone or email don.barclay@nzaf.org.nz.
Regards,
Don Barclay
Administration Assistant
New Zealand AIDS Foundation
Te Tuuaapapa Mate Aaraikore o
Aotearoa
Awhina Centre
Level 1, 187 Willis Street
Wellington 6141
Ph: (04) 381 6640
Fax: (04) 381 6641
OUT TAKES
2008
Queer
films have the power to remind us of who we are, to inform and transform people
both in and outside of our communities, to bring people together to celebrate
queer culture and to advance the movement for equal rights.
Reel
Queer Inc has been organising New Zealand's annual queer film festival - Out
Takes - for the past thirteen years. The all-volunteer Reel Queer team is now
working on the Out Takes 2009 film festival - sourcing films, applying for
funding, and organising sponsorship and programme advertising.
Audience
Survey
The
Reel Queer team invites our supporters to take part in an on-line, anonymous
survey to help us find out what you'd like to see more, or less, of at the Out
Takes film festivals. Your input will help us to create a relevant and vibrant
queer film festival, and also enable us to put together demographic information
about our audiences which will help us better meet the needs of our diverse
community.
You
can find more information about our survey here, along with a link to
the survey itself.
2009
Festival Sponsorship and Advertising
If
you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the 2009 Out Takes film festival,
or advertising in our 2009 programmes, now is the time to contact the
sponsorship team at Reel Queer Inc. at sponsorship@outtakes.org.nz.
Fundraising
Events in 2008
Reel
Queer was pleased to present - on Tuesday, 16 September in Wellington and
Auckland - fundraising screenings of Through Rainbow Coloured Glasses, an entertaining
documentary by Christchurch filmmakers Toni Keevil and Meshell
Edgecombe that focuses on the local queer community’s development, celebrations
and struggle for rights over the last 50 years. More details
Thanks
to everyone who came along to our fundraising film events in Wellington and
Auckland this year, and to our sponsors for their generous support.
Make
sure you and your friends are signed up on the Out Takes mailing list so you keep up to date with future
Out Takes events. If you have previously been on our email list and haven't
heard from us lately, use the sign-up button to check that your details are
correct in our database.
News
and Updates
Check
out the latest Out Takes news here plus
regular updates on our generous sponsors and supporters.
Submissions
for Out Takes 2009 Film Festival
Film
submission details are available here.
The law and sexual orientation / Gender Indentity
GLBTI Policy has worked in
conjunction with Whitireia Community Law Centre to produce an online legal resource
for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, takataapui, fa'afafine, transsexual,
transgender and intersex people (and anyone else who doesn't fit into
heterosexual or gender norms!).
The resource is housed on the
Community Law Centre website - currently on its front page at
http://www.communitylaw.org.nz/
You will see that the resource
covers a broad range of legislation and drills down into some of the areas that
are more specific to the target audience, such as legal parenting and
guardianship issues, and legal identity documents.
The resource will be updated to
incorporate changes to legislation and hopefully new areas will be developed.
It would be great to receive your feedback to know what you find useful and
where you would like to see further work. Please send all content feedback to
the email address in the resource introduction, ie commlaw@wnc.quik.co.nz.
If you have any technical problems
accessing the resource, please let me know at this email address mailto:sue.russ005@msd.govt.nzso that we can
work on that as soon as possible.
Sue Russ
Senior Analyst - GLBTI Policy -
Social Inclusion and Participation - Ministry of Social Development - Te Manatu
Whakahiato Ora - DDI 04 978 4103 - email sue.russ005@msd.govt.nz
Downstage
Theatre - Seasons
Change |
Spring Showcase 08 - The Little Dog Laughed
Mitchell Green
has a problem. He's the beloved Hollywood hero all the ladies want to be with
and all the men want to be (and maybe be with as well). But he isn't who he
says he is ... and by falling in love he could bring his whole show world
crashing down. Luckily for him, his hard-case
The hottest
ticket in town, The Little Dog Laughed is a highly articulate, deeply funny
look between-the-sheets at image making, sexual politics, celebrity hype and
the age-old question of who really deals the cards when it comes to love.
Book your
grown-ups only Christmas party now for this smash-hit Broadway comedy, starring
four of Wellington's hottest young actors, directed by Willem Wassenaar and
designed by Daniel Williams (Angels in America).
Contains
nudity, adult themes. Discretion advised.
From 7 November
Book at Downstage Theatre on 04 801 6946
Directed by
Willem WassenaarDesigned by Daniel Williams
Starring Kip
Chapman, Sophie Hambleton, Richard Knowles, Renée Sheridan
Performance
Times
Post Show Talk Back & Members Night Monday 10 Nov
Early Bird
Ticket Prices
Full Price: $39
Concession:
$30 (incl. seniors 65+, Super Gold Card Holders, Community
Services Card Holders, Students, Groups 10+)
Members: $29
Student Rush: $20
Early Bird
pricing available until Thu 30 October.
Gender and Women's Studies
at Victoria University is teaching GEND 213 -313
Queer sexualities, histories and politics as a block course over 3 weekends
this summer trimester. Final assignments are due at the end of the trimester on
20 February 2009, and the course is 100% internally assessed. Students
may take the course at either 200 or 300-level.
The courses are an introduction to the development of sexual identities and
communities from lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer theoretical perspectives with
particular emphasis on social, historical and political lesbian, gay,
takat?pui, transgender and queer cultures in New Zealand.
There is also a post-graduate 400-level course available which is taught over 2
trimesters.
Timetable: Sat and Sun 22/23 Nov, 6/7Dec and 13/14 Dec 2008
If you would like more information about these courses, and how to enrol,
email Alison Laurie <alison.laurie@vuw.ac.nz>
Book review - Mates & Lovers: A History of Gay New Zealand by Chris
Brickell
Chris Brickell’s Mates & Lovers is a survey of gay
history in New Zealand from the early years of European settlement in the
1830s, through the liberation movement of the 1980s, to contemporary times.
Especially as to the period prior to the Second World War, the book explores a
hitherto largely hidden history. Stories of the lives and experiences of gay
men in New Zealand emerge from the shadows, and can now be celebrated as an
integral part of our nation’s social history.
In today’s “now” society, it is too
easy for us all to be unmindful of history. This is the month of the 22nd
anniversary of the passage of Fran Wilde’s Homosexual Law Reform Act. As we
approach a general election, we should all know, and reflect on, how our
members of parliament and their parties have voted over the past 35 years since
such reform was first attempted in our legislature. Any analysis of that
history gives a very clear indication of the identity of our political allies.
More importantly, it reveals those parties and politicians that have been quite
happy to use homophobia and ignorance to further their own ends, and who would
therefore be likely to do so again. This is knowledge that all gay men should
have at their fingertips, particularly over the next 4 months.
Brickell’s narrative includes the
stories of soldiers, labourers, shop assistants, actors, writers and others.
Men of all classes and many races are included in the book. His sources are
many and varied – they include personal reminiscences, the records of
court cases and medical journals.
Complementing these accounts is a
remarkable collection of images. Mates
& Lovers is wonderfully illustrated and beautifully produced, using
around 300 pictures, both suggestive and explicit. These images form a rich
narrative of their own – together with the text they result in a powerful
and moving product indeed.
The stories in the book are often
poignant. Those gleaned from court records, especially those resulting in a
conviction for indecency – or worse – are especially sad. But for
every such account, there is any number of other tales that echo the overall
mood of the work. That mood celebrates the irrepressibility of humanity, as
people seek and make intimate contact with other people, according to their nature.
In the end, the prudishness – even the viciousness - of Victorian and
post-Victorian morality – do not trump nature. Joy, energy, hope and love
prevail.
Another review of this book –
undertaken by Craig Young recently for Gaynz.com - has spoken of the “magnificence of Mates
and Lovers”,
and referred to the book as “the
benchmark against which all future NZ LGBT histories will be compared. I
could not agree more with those comments. The book is a must-read, and a
must-own, for every gay man in New Zealand.
Charles Chauvel MP
Vice-Patron, Rainbow Wellington
24 July 2008
Work, Love and Play in Diverse Family Life in Australia and New Zealand
Are
you same sex attracted and parenting at least one child under the age of 18?
If
so, we'd love to hear your stories.
The
Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, is currently running a major study into
the way in which lesbian and gay parents organise their household and parenting
responsibilities and the impact of parenting on same-sex relationships. This
study will extend our previous research as well as the work of our colleagues
around Australia and New Zealand.
This
is the first survey of its kind in Australia and New Zealand. It is an
opportunity for you to contribute to a greater understanding of our families.
If
you'd like to be part of this study, please click on the link below or visit
our website and complete the online survey. More information about the project
can also be found at the website below, including contact details for the
researchers.
http://www.thissurvey.com/bouverie
Dr
Jennifer Power
The
Bouverie Centre: Victoria's Family Institute
8
Gardiner Street, Brunswick 3056
VIC
Australia
Phone:+61
3 9385 5100 | Fax:+61 3 9381 0336 | email: jennifer.power@latrobe.edu.au
May 2008
Rainbow Wellington: Chairperson’s Report 2007/08
1
This has been a year of
consolidation as we orient ourselves to our new name and future identity.
Following the decision of the last general meeting to change our name to
Rainbow Wellington, all of the administrative and technical requirement which
go with that change have been implemented, and we have taken a number of steps
to ensure that the change has been registered by those with whom we deal
directly and with the broader communities in which we operate. We have a new
and distinctive letterhead and we have followed through on this branding on our
web site, in a new banner, and in our wider advertising both in print and
electronically. I trust that our new identity has been clearly established;
time will tell.
2
We have similarly sought to impress and
extend our new identity with parallel organisations and have maintained our
contacts with both GABA and ILGA. We are currently engaged in an initiative
with UniQ to set up lines of communication and liaison so that there is a line
of progression and continuing contact for those who have been engaged in the
gay, lesbian and related communities during tertiary studies to continue that
involvement following completion of those studies.
Membership
3
This year has seen a significant
fall in our financial membership. This is a worrying trend and one we have been
monitoring with some concern. Obviously we depend on our financial membership
as the mainstay of our activities and a decline of some forty financial members
has to alarm any voluntary organisation. A number of reasons might be adduced
for this: our membership has fluctuated in the past; membership as might be
expected climbed during the last few years because of a number of important
public issues which are no longer as pressing; some dormant members might have
taken the opportunity to not renew when we changed our name; and so forth.
4
Obviously this has an effect on our
financial position, and although we have some reserves and can therefore
continue to offer the same level of services to our members as in the past, it
is clearly undesirable to do so on that basis. We will be continuing to monitor
this and to redouble our efforts to ensure that we have a growing membership if
we can achieve this. In particular, I continue to be personally perturbed by
the significant numbers of those who attend the functions we organise and who
receive our newsletters but who do not become financial members.
Public Initiatives
5
We have continued over the year
to take up a range of issues which are of direct concern to our communities. In
particular these have included the effective prohibition on blood donations by
gay men, the intrusive and offensive questionnaires used by some insurance
companies when they become aware that the applicant for health or life
insurance is gay, and the steps which should be taken to implement the
recommendations of the recently issued Human Rights Commission Report on
transgender issues.
6
At the time of writing this
report we are still awaiting the issue of the final report on the donation of
blood. Rainbow Wellington made submissions to this review and responded to the
invitation to attend public discussion of the draft report (which was
unfavourable to our preferred outcome). In the latter context we led the
critical discussion, and if, as we anticipate, the final report recommends the
retention of the status quo, we will be looking at taking this matter further
by way of the Human Rights Commission.
7
On the transgender report we
have written to the four principal Ministers involved in implementing the
recommendations and have sought to ascertain their views on this. The replies
so far have been fairly anodyne (‘officials are studying these’). We will keep
up the pressure.
8
The response by the Privacy
Commission to our approaches on insurance questionnaires while initially
encouraging has been disappointing in the event. They do not consider that the
provisions of the Privacy Act have been breached and have declined to pursue
the matter. We have the alternative but less hopeful route of the Human Rights
Commission and we will be looking at that, as well as publicity options both
among our membership and the broader public. In the meantime I would suggest
that any member contemplating taking out or renewing insurance with the company
ING should take into consideration their use of the offending questionnaire. As
or if we encounter other companies doing likewise we will advise the membership
accordingly.
9
We have maintained liaison with
politicians of the major parties who are involved in issues of direct concern
to our communities, having for example, fully briefed Tim Barnett on issues of
concern to us earlier this year, and having recently met with Chris Finlayson
for the same purpose and to hear what the National Party policies on issues of
concern to us might be. We are presently organising our triennial political
forum to hear from the parties in this year’s general election.
10
It is disappointing to note
that after nine years in government by parties with policy commitments to same
sex parent adoption that there is no progress in sight on this issue. To set
against that there has been a major initiative undertaken on youth suicide
including the very real problem of suicide among those trying to come out in the
often hostile secondary school environment.
Social
11
The organisation of a
comprehensive social programme for our members has always been a feature of our
activities and it is pleasing to report that we have continued this tradition.
Bi-monthly pub nights have seen the introduction of some new venues to the old
faithfuls, and it is good to see the return of a gay bar to the Wellington
scene after a regrettable hiatus. These have been supplemented by our bi-annual
dinners, visits to out of town locales, and the perennially popular Lambda
evening at Unity Books. We are always in the market for new ideas on how we
might titillate your fancy so feel free to come forward with any so we can add
them to our schedule as appropriate. ‘Party On’ remains our slogan in this
area.
Technical
12
During the course of the year
we encountered difficulties with the volunteer operating our website which
culminated in his abrupt pulling of the plug. Happily we were able to find a
new website host very quickly, this time on a professional and commercial
basis. This host looks after our main email address list. This has entailed
taking back our membership database and streamlining it into an Excel
spreadsheet. We have also been able to put in place a new mass emailing system.
Thanks to Howard Pond and Adrian Sainsbury in particular for undertaking this
onerous task.
General
Grants
Scheme
13 Our fledgling grants scheme has continued into a second year with a
major grant to the Women’s Refuge to help them to hold a national conference on
the issues arising from same sex parenting in their context. We intend to keep
this scheme in play, as it is clear that there is a demand fo