Gay New Zealand

Contents:

• GAY MAN REFLECTS ON 'SRY' LIFE BEFORE NEW ZEALAND'S HOMOSEXUAL LAW REFORM
• GAY MEN’S LIV
• GAY NEW ZEALAND TRAVEL GUI
• IS NEW ZEALAND A GAY FRIENDLY TRAVEL DTATN?
• GAY NEW ZEALAND
• GAY CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND | THE ESSENTIAL LGBT TRAVEL GUI!
• NEW ZEALAND GAY TRAVEL
• GAY TRANGA, NEW ZEALAND | THE ESSENTIAL LGBT TRAVEL GUI!

GAY MAN REFLECTS ON 'SRY' LIFE BEFORE NEW ZEALAND'S HOMOSEXUAL LAW REFORM

It’s always tertg to know more about the untry so we’ve prepared this gui to LGBT rights New Zealand so gay travellers are rmed before they go. There are a full range of laws supportg the gay muny place New Zealand – same-sex sexual activy has been legal sce 1986, there are extensive discrimatn protectns and was the 13th untry the world to legalise gay marriage. When relig settlers brought Christiany to the islands they also brought the notn that homosexualy was a s and subsequently New Zealand adopted Brish law, crimalisg same-sex sexual activy.

Throughout the 60s and 70s gay liberatn groups formed and gathered strength – a talysg event this was when an amic was refed a visor’s perm to the USA bee she was homosexual. In 2018 the Government passed a bill allowg men nvicted of homosexual offens before crimalisatn to have their rerds wiped and there was also an official apology. The Human Rights Act 1993 meant that any discrimatn on the basis of sexualy (and genr inty) was illegal and many ernment agenci have gay-iendly polici.

GAY MEN’S LIV

New Zealanrs are overall very acceptg of the LGBT muny – generally, anti-LGBT polil parti are unsuccsful, for example, and there are many openly gay people all walks of life. It’s worth notg that gay or straight, New Zealand is not a party statn – if gay travellers are prrisg back-to-back partyg and sndalo nights out then Bangkok, Berl or Mykonos might be better statns.

Generally, New Zealand will never be a place for lots of public displays of affectn, somethg which both gay and straight travellers should be aware of. Before gettg to specifics, ’s worth remdg potential gay travellers that there are lots of small, isolated towns and villag sttered about the unspoiled landspe of the untry which might have ls progrsive views.

Those planng a trip to New Zealand won’t be surprised to hear that such a gay-iendly untry there’s basilly no such thg as a gay uniendly hotel. From budget hostels to chic boutiqu to glampg to geo outdoor lodg, there’ plenty to choose om and gay travellers should know that they are wele almost everywhere. Given the posive stance on LGBT rights New Zealand, gay people are extremely unlikely to be the closet so there are lots of opportuni to meet people.

GAY NEW ZEALAND TRAVEL GUI

The suatn for members of the queer muny is better than the vast majory of other untri the world, so gay travellers should travel there to support the stance on LGBT rights New Zealand.

There's no gayborhood per se, but you'll fd the most mixed venu along Courtenay Place and Cuba Street the hip Te Aro district at the cy center. Former Gay Task Force member Bill Logan, who was part of the ph to legalise , says life as a gay person before the reform was "pretty sry" given you uldn't expect to have a public life or get many secure jobs.

IS NEW ZEALAND A GAY FRIENDLY TRAVEL DTATN?

As the reform mpaign began, verage newspapers and on televisn helped change the mds of New Zealanrs, but so did the many people who me out as gay. "Early on the mpaign, people would say, 'well 's not such a big problem, I don't know anyone who's gay, there's no one my fay who's gay', " Logan says.

"You're not gog to be able to have gay men discs what they need to discs to prevent the spread of AIDS wh their doctors, wh health profsnal workers unls they n be open about their sexual practic.

Society was not always so open – until recently many aspects of gay life New Zealand were hidn, and the early 21st century some gay men still ncealed their sexualy. Still, most gay men nducted their sexual relatnships out of reach of the law, unls they approached an unwillg partner who subsequently laid a plat.

GAY NEW ZEALAND

It was possible to assemble a social work of sympathetic folk – for stance, the homosexual wrer Jam Courage went mpg wh iends Peel Fort, Canterbury. The news media beme terted the new homosexual ‘sects’ and ‘circl’, reflectg the works’ creasg size and the growg visibily of bars equented by gay men: the Waemata Auckland, the Royal Oak Wellgton and the Brish Hotel Lyttelton. This was primarily a social group, but 1963 the society’s new legal submtee – the Wolfenn Associatn – argued that male homosexualy should be crimalised.

Male same-sex activy was still illegal durg the 1970s, and a young Graham Unrhill – later a gay activist – watched a gay rights prott march Auckland wh some trepidatn: ‘A small, brave group of people dared to march down Queen Street loudly mandg “gay rights”. The lerature of the movement – which brought together gay male and lbian activism – was sexually explic and openly advoted a gay life; different thors promoted gay marriage, mun and non-monogamy.

GAY CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND | THE ESSENTIAL LGBT TRAVEL GUI!

Author Peter Wells remembered how the arrival of HIV/AIDS created a public backlash towards the gay muny: ‘Every time you picked up the paper there was a new b of news about how you uld tch . Although this applied to all forms of provotn, impacted on gay victims sce some killers had claimed their male victim proposned them sexually and ed them to lose ntrol, allowg them to be nvicted on the lser charge of manslghter. The annual Big Gay Out Auckland’s Coyle Park, wh performers, dancg, food stalls, and ocsnal handbag-throwg ntt, is one of the most high-profile gay social events.

In the 21st century the larger ci had many anised leisure optns for their gay and lbian cizens, cludg film ftivals, sports teams, garng and trampg groups. The social workg se Bro Onle was set up 2008 to provi a fom for takatāpui tāne (gay and bisexual Māori men) to teract wh others around the untry. In the 2010s there was no reliable timate of New Zealand’s gay, lbian and bisexual populatn – official statistics on sexual orientatn were not llected for privacy reasons.

Gay and lbian rearchers have lobbied for the cln of a sexual orientatn qutn the five-yearly cens, to ga more specific rmatn about gay New Zealanrs. The most tailed survey of New Zealand’s gay, lbian and bisexual populatn was the 2004 Lavenr Islands project unrtaken by Massey Universy rearchers.

NEW ZEALAND GAY TRAVEL

While the self-selectg nature of the survey ma unreprentative – most rponnts were highly ted, earned high and were polilly active – provid some sights to the gay muny and a base for further rearch. A 2009 survey of Otago sendary school stunts revealed gay people or issu were rarely discsed class, although librari and guidance uncillors sometim provid relevant books and pamphlets. In 1999, she beme the world’s first transgenr member of Parliament Discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn and genr inty/exprsn has been illegal sce 1993 LGB members have been allowed to serve the ary openly sce 1993 Openly gay and lbian policians have been servg sce 1993, wh Rabow Labour, a branch of the Labour Party, beg formed 1997 to reprent LGBTQ people.

© Unsplash The Gay Scene Auckland Offerg the most eclectic LGBTQ scene New Zealand, Auckland is a mt-go for gay and lbian travellers lookg to meet like-md people. LGBTQ and Gay Bars Auckland The Eagle Bar, 259 Karangahape Road Good Tim Bar, 146 Karangahape Road Caluzzi Bar & Cabaret, 461 Karangahape Road Fay Bar & Club, 270 Karangahape Road For more about Auckland’s bars and clubs, see The Gui to Auckland Nightlife. © The Gay Scene Wellgton New Zealand’s pal might have a small gay scene when to bars and clubs, but what lacks quanty mak up for qualy.

While the cy centre has two exclive gay bars, venu like The Frge Bar (36-32 Allen Street) and Hawthorn Lounge (2/82 Tory Street) are popular LGBTQ hangouts rporatg edy and luxury. LGBTQ and Gay Bars Wellgton Stty & Mal’s (S&M’s), 176 Cuba Street Ivy Bar & Cabaret, 49 Cuba Street For more about Wellgton’s bars and clubs, see The Gui to Wellgton Nightlife.

GAY TRANGA, NEW ZEALAND | THE ESSENTIAL LGBT TRAVEL GUI!

Regardls, the South Island’s latt cy has plenty of gay-iendly bars and clubs wh a diverse vibe, cludg The Dirty Land (131 Victoria Street) and Boo Radley’s Food & Liquor (1/98 Victoria Street).

LGBTQ and Gay Bars Christchurch Cz, 77 Victoria Street © WellgtonNZ Pri Ftivals Of urse, a highlight of New Zealand’s even lendars is the LGBTQ ftivals. Auckland Pri Ftival – Febary Big Gay Out, Auckland – Febary Wellgton Internatnal Pri Para – late Febary to early March Wter Pri, Queenstown – late Augt to early September Christchurch Pri – November Haton Pri – September For more events, head over to New Zealand Events Calendar: What’s Gog On?