Pride Week

Why do we need to learn about PRIDE?

We learn about the history of PRIDE because it’s an important part of Aotearoa’s story. Just like we learn about wars, treaties, and protests, we also need to learn how people have fought for fairness, respect, and equal rights — including the rainbow (LGBTQ+) community. 5% of the adult population in Aotearoa are LGBTQ+, it is our responsibility to ensure their histories are told within our communities.

For a long time, people who were gay, lesbian, transgender, or part of the rainbow community were treated unfairly. Some were bullied, left out, or even arrested just for being who they were. However, brave people stood up and said, “That’s not okay.” They protested, marched, spoke out, and helped change the laws.

PRIDE history is about people being proud of who they are — and reminding us all that everyone deserves to be accepted and feel safe.

Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku - Te Awara, Tūhoe

Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku was the first wāhine Māori to earn a doctorate (PhD) from a New Zealand university. Awekōtuku is in her 70s now, but in the 1970s she was involved in many activist groups in te Ika-a-māui. 

In 1972, she was chosen to go to the United States to study how people there were fighting for gay rights and for Native American rights (called Red Power). But the US government said no to her visa because she was a lesbian. They unfairly called her “sexually deviant.”

Ngāhuia was angry, so she gave a powerful speech at the University of Auckland. She told students not to be afraid of who they were, and asked, “Who out there is brave enough to join me – and let’s start gay liberation!”

Soon after, a group of people met at Ngāhuia’s flat and created the very first gay liberation group in Aotearoa.

Her message spread quickly. When she visited Wellington and Christchurch, students there also started their own gay liberation groups at their universities.

Decriminalising homosexuality

People kept working hard to change the law to make things fairer for gay people. In 1985, a Labour MP named Fran Wilde introduced the Homosexual Law Reform Bill. This bill had two parts: one part would make it legal for men over 16 to have relationships with each other, and the other part would make it illegal to treat someone unfairly because they are gay.

There was a lot of public debate, and many people had strong opinions. In July 1986, the first part of the bill passed by a small number of votes — 49 said yes and 44 said no. 

It took 16 months for the Homosexual Law Reform Bill to be discussed and voted on in Parliament.

The final vote happened on 9 July 1986. The bill passed by a small number of votes — 49 said yes and 44 said no. Two days later, the governor-general signed it, and the law started on 8 August.

Many gay and lesbian people, and their friends, celebrated the change. People who disagreed with the law were worried about what might happen. But for the first time, gay men in New Zealand could have relationships without being afraid of getting into trouble with the law.

The second part didn’t pass at the time, but in 1993 the Human Rights Act was changed so that it became illegal to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation.

In 2004, a new law called the Civil Union Act was passed in New Zealand. It let same-sex and opposite-sex couples have their relationship officially recognised by law — kind of like marriage, but they couldn’t adopt children as a couple.

Then in 2005, another law gave equal rights to people in marriages, civil unions, and de facto relationships (when couples live together like they’re married but aren’t).

Feelings within the gay and lesbian community about civil unions were mixed. Some argued that it was a lesser form of marriage and should be rejected. Others felt that marriage was a heterosexual idea not worth taking up. But for many couples the opportunity to celebrate their relationship and have it legally recognised was of great importance. 

In 2013, the New Zealand Parliament passed a law that changed the definition of marriage so that same-sex couples could get married too. This law was introduced by Louisa Wall, a Labour Party MP.

Some conservative groups were against it, but most New Zealanders — especially young people — supported the change. The first same-sex marriages in New Zealand happened in August 2013.