Historical Events - People

9 Nov 1795(James) Miranda Steuart Barry is born (Ireland)
Links: Wikipedia
3 Nov 1802Missionary William Yate is born (Shropshire, United Kingdom)
Links: Wikipedia, Te Ara
26 Feb 1817Feminist and businesswoman Mary Taylor is born (Yorkshire, United Kingdom)
Taylor was a life-long friend and some say lover of writer Charlotte Bronte.
Links: Te Ara, GayNZ.net
4 Dec 1835Writer Samuel Butler is born (Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom)
Links: Wikipedia, GayNZ.net, Te Ara
Dec 1836Missionary William Yate leaves New Zealand (New Zealand)
Yate leaves for England after an inquiry into allegations of sexual activity with some of his male pupils.
Links: Te Ara
1838Charles Paine Pauli is born (Germany)
Pauli later had a relationship with writer Samuel Butler.
Links: Wikipedia, GayNZ.net, Te Ara, Papers Past
24 Jul 1845Mary Taylor arrives in New Zealand (New Zealand)
Taylor is a life-long friend and some say lover of writer Charlotte Bronte. She returns to England in 1860.
Links: Te Ara, GayNZ.net
2 Apr 1854Photographer Robert Gant is born (United Kingdom)
Gant is born in Woolwich (now Greater London). At the age of 21 he immigrates to Wellington, New Zealand.
16 Oct 1854Writer Oscar Wilde is born (United Kingdom)
Links: Wikipedia
18 May 1859Confidence trickster Amy Bock is born (Tasmania, Australia)
Links: Te Ara
Sep 1863Writer Samuel Butler begins a relationship with Charles Paine Pauli (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia, GayNZ.net, Te Ara, Papers Past
25 Jul 1865James Miranda Steuart Barry dies (London, United Kingdom)
Links: Wikipedia
14 May 1868Physician and sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld is born
Links: Wikipedia
14 Sep 1868Alexander Turnbull is born (Wellington, New Zealand)
During his life Turnbull collected a wide variety of manuscripts and documents. He later donated his collection to the country - forming the basis of the Alexander Turnbull Library.
Links: Te Ara, GayNZ.net
28 Apr 1869Painter Frances Hodgkins is born
Links: Te Ara, PrideNZ.com
6 Oct 1874Poet Ursula Bethell is born
Links: Te Ara, PrideNZ.com
1875Eugenia Falleni (a.k.a Harry Crawford) is born (Italy)
Falleni lived as a man, married Annie Birkett and was subsequently convicted of murdering her in 1920 in Australia. Born in Italy, Falleni had moved to Wellington, New Zealand in 1877. In 1996 Lorae Parry wrote Eugenia a play based on Falleni's life.
Links: Wikipedia
29 Jun 1875Charles Mackay is born (Nelson, New Zealand)
Mackay later became the mayor of Wanganui
Links: Te Ara, GayNZ.net
Jul 1876Robert Gant arrives in Wellington (Wellington, New Zealand)
Gant emigrates from the United Kingdom
26 Jul 1877William Yate dies
Links: Te Ara
17 Jun 1882Plastic surgeon Harold Gillies is born (Dunedin, New Zealand)
Gillies is widely considered the father of plastic and gender reassignment surgery.
Links: Wikipedia
16 Sep 1882Mountaineer Freda Du Faur is born (Sydney, Australia)
Links: Sydney Morning Herald, Te Ara
14 Oct 1888Writer Katherine Mansfield (nee Beauchamp) is born (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara, PrideNZ
10 Apr 1890Maata Mahupuku is born (New Zealand)
Mahupuku was later a lover of Katherine Mansfield.
Links: Te Ara
1 Mar 1893Mary Taylor dies (Yorkshire, United Kingdom)
Links: Te Ara
22 Jan 1896Poet Walter D'Arcy Cresswell is born (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Cresswell was later shot by Charles Mackay, mayor of Wanganui
Links: Te Ara, GayNZ.net
1897Charles Paine Pauli dies (London, United Kingdom)
Pauli had a relationship with writer Samuel Butler.
Links: Wikipedia, GayNZ.net, Te Ara, Papers Past
2 Dec 1897Writer and educator Rewi Alley is born (Canterbury region, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia, Te Ara
2 May 1898Lawyer and social reformer Frank Haigh is born (Lower Hutt, New Zealand)
Among other things Haigh was prominent in the cause of homosexual law reform.
Links: Te Ara
30 Nov 1900Oscar Wilde dies (Paris, France)
Links: Wikipedia
Feb 1901Painter Frances Hodgkins leaves New Zealand for Europe (New Zealand)
Hodgkins and painter Dorothy Richmond travel together.
Links: Te Ara, Papers Past
18 Jun 1902Writer Samuel Butler dies (London, United Kingdom)
Links: Wikipedia, GayNZ.net, Te Ara
23 Dec 1902Civil libertarian Walter Scott is born (Canterbury region, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
9 Feb 1903Writer James Courage is born (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
23 Mar 1903Writer Norris Frank Davey (a.k.a Frank Sargeson) is born (Hamilton, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara, GayNZ.net
17 Jun 1906Writer Eric McCormick is born (Rangitikei region, New Zealand)
McCormick wrote, among other works, biographies on Alexander Turnbull and Frances Hodgkins
Links: Te Ara
29 Nov 1906Diplomat Alister McIntosh is born (Marlborough region, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
1907Katherine Mansfield has a relationship with Maata Mahupuku (Wellington, New Zealand)
Mansfield also begins a relationship with Edie Bendall.
Links: Te Ara
Jul 1908Katherine Mansfield leaves for England (Wellington, New Zealand)
Mansfield leaves shortly after her father reads Leves Amores.
Links: GayNZ.net, Te Ara
17 Jun 1909The marriage of Percival Redwood (a.k.a. Amy Bock) and Agnes Ottaway is annulled (Dunedin, New Zealand)
Links: Papers Past, Te Ara
27 Jul 1909Writer and poet Charles Brasch is born (Dunedin, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
20 Aug 1909Artist Rodney Kennedy is born (Dunedin, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
27 Mar 1910Dancer Freda Stark is born (Northland region, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
11 Apr 1910Artist Toss Woollaston is born (Stratford, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
10 May 1910Composer Tuini Moetu Haangu Ngawai is born (Gisborne region, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
1 May 1912Artist Leo Bensemann is born (Marlborough region, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara, New Zealand Herald
23 Jun 1912Computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing is born (London, United Kingdom)
17 Dec 1913Poet Rupert Brooke arrives in New Zealand onboard RMS Niagara (Auckland, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia, Papers Past
7 Jan 1914Rupert Brooke departs for Tahiti onboard RMS Tahiti (Wellington, New Zealand)
Brooke is in Wellington 5-7 January 1914.
Links: Wikipedia, Papers Past
31 Jul 1915Artist Theo Schoon is born (Java, Indonesia)
Schoon was a notable figure in New Zealand art in the mid 20th century. He refused to separate art and craft and created in a range of media. He was interested in the integration of Maori and European art to produce a local modernism.
Links: Te Ara
2 Nov 1915Composer Douglas Lilburn is born (Whanganui, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
30 Jan 1917Writer W. Somerset Maugham and his lover Gerald Haxton briefly visit Wellington en route to Tahiti (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia, GayNZ.net
13 Dec 1917Morals campaigner Keith Hay is born (Hastings, New Zealand)
Hay was a founding member of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, a group that was behind the large anti homosexual law reform petition
Links: Te Ara
28 Jun 1918Alexander Turnbull dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara, GayNZ.net
25 Sep 1921Prime Minister Robert Muldoon is born (Auckland, New Zealand)
As Prime Minister, Muldoon accuses MP Colin Moyle of having been picked up for homosexual practices. Moyle resigned from Parliament in 1977.
Links: Te Ara
9 Jan 1923Katherine Mansfield dies (France)
Mansfield dies of Tuberculosis.
Links: Te Ara, Papers Past, Wikipedia, PrideNZ.com
Aug 1924Effie Pollen and poet Ursula Bethell begin living together (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Links: PrideNZ.com, Te Ara
1 Oct 1925Peter Stratford (a.k.a. Deresley Morton) marries Elizabeth Rowland (United States of America)
Links: Papers Past
27 Jun 1927Photographer Brian Brake is born (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia, Te Papa
17 Mar 1928Morals campaigner Patricia Bartlett is born (Napier, New Zealand)
Bartlett would later form the Society for Promotion of Community Standards.
Links: Wikipedia
1 May 1929Expatriate Peter Stratford (a.k.a. Deresley Morton) dies (California, United States of America)
A headline in NZ Truth reads "Death of masquerader reveals incredible deception".
Links: Papers Past
3 May 1929Former Mayor of Whanganui Charles Mackay is shot dead (Berlin, Germany)
Mackay is killed by a policeman while covering a street battle as a journalist.
Links: Papers Past, Te Ara
18 Jun 1929Politician Colin Moyle is born (Thames, New Zealand)
Moyle resigned from Parliament in 1977 after it was made public that he had been questioned by the police on suspicion of homosexual activities.
Links: Wikipedia
1 Jul 1934Ernst Roehm, an early Nazi leader and co-founder of the Sturmabteilung (SA) is executed (Germany)
Links: Wikipedia, Papers Past
11 Apr 1935Entrepreneur Tony Katavich is born (Auckland, New Zealand)
Katavich would later create the Out! business empire with Brett Sheppard.
Links: GayNZ
14 May 1935Physician and sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld dies (Nice, France)
Hirschfeld dies of a heart attack on his 67th birthday.
Links: Wikipedia
11 Sep 1935Mountaineer Freda Du Faur dies (Sydney, Australia)
Du Faur commits suicide.
Links: Papers Past, Sydney Morning Herald, Te Ara
5 Jul 1936Photographer Robert Gant dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: Papers Past, WorldCat, PrideNZ.com
10 Oct 1936Entrepreneur and activist Carmen Trevor Rupe is born (Taumarunui, New Zealand)
Links: Time Out Sydney
1938Author William Taylor is born (New Zealand)
Links: GayNZ.com
10 Jun 1938Eugenia Falleni dies following injuries sustained in an accident (Sydney, Australia)
The previous day Falleni had stepped off the pavement in front of a motorcar.
Links: Wikipedia
1941Academic and activist Alison Laurie is born (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: PrideNZ.com, National Library
1 Mar 1941Female impersonator and activist Johnny Croskery is born (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: Tapatoru
25 Mar 1942Writer and actor Richard O'Brien is born (Gloucestershire, United Kingdom)
Links: Wikipedia
27 Aug 1943US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visits New Zealand with her aide Norah Walton (New Zealand)
Roosevelt is in New Zealand to inspect the American troops and the American Red Cross.
Links: Papers Past, National Library
29 Aug 1943Amy Bock dies (Auckland region, New Zealand)
Bock dies at Bombay, south of Auckland, and is buried in the Pukekohe cemetery.
Links: Te Ara
7 Feb 1944Writer Witi Ihimaera is born (Gisborne region, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia
15 Jan 1945Poet Ursula Bethell dies (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Bethell dies in Christchurch and is buried in the Rangiora cemetery.
Links: Te Ara, PrideNZ.com
29 Aug 1946Dana de Milo is born (Auckland, New Zealand)
Links: PrideNZ.com
13 May 1947Painter Frances Hodgkins dies (Dorset, United Kingdom)
Hodgkins' ashes are returned to New Zealand and placed in the Field-Hodgkins family plot in the Waikanae cemetery near Wellington.
Links: Te Ara, PrideNZ.com
1949Academic and activist Ngahuia Te Awekotuku is born (Rotorua, New Zealand)
Links: Book Council
Jun 1949Journalist and author Tom McLean is born (United Kingdom)
McLean would later write the book If I Should Die about his personal journey with HIV AIDS.
Links: New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt, WorldCat
1950Writer and film-maker Peter Wells is born (Auckland, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia, New Zealand Book Council, The Spinoff
15 Jan 1952Maata Mahupuku dies (Palmerston North, New Zealand)
Mahupuku is buried in the private burial ground of the Mahupuku family at Kehemane beyond Martinborough.
Links: Te Ara, PrideNZ.com
4 May 1952Politician Chris Carter is born (Auckland, New Zealand)
Carter would later become the first openly gay Member of Parliament in New Zealand.
Links: Wikipedia
7 Oct 1952Politician and academic Marilyn Waring is born (New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia
1953Activist Mani Bruce Mitchell is born (Auckland, New Zealand)
Mani is recognised as the first out intersex person in New Zealand.
Links: Wikipedia, PrideNZ.com
3 Jun 1954AIDS activist and educator Tom O'Donoghue is born (New Zealand)
O'Donoghue would later become a founding member of the National People Living With AIDS Union and Collective Thinking, a publication for people living with, or affected by, HIV AIDS.
Links: New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt, Tui Motu InterIslands Magazine
7 Jun 1954Computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing dies (United Kingdom)
An inquest determined Turing had committed suicide. However Turing's mother believed that the cyanide poisoning was accidental, resulting from her son's careless storage of laboratory chemicals.
1955Singer-songwriter Mahinarangi Tocker is born (Taumarunui, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia
5 Oct 1955Dramatist and performer Paul Jenden is born (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: Press Reader, GayNZ.com, Stuff
9 Oct 1955Singer Shona Laing is born (New Zealand)
Laing first came to prominence in 1972 as a 17-year-old schoolgirl, coming runner-up in the television talent show New Faces with her song 1905. Laing's biggest hit songs included (Glad I'm) Not a Kennedy and Soviet Snow.
Links: Wikipedia
1956Choreographer and dancer Douglas Wright is born (Auckland, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia
28 Apr 1956Daniel Fielding is born (New Zealand)
Fielding would later establish the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt in December 1988.
Links: Tributes Online
Nov 1957Politician Georgina Beyer is born (Wellington, New Zealand)
Beyer would later become the world's first openly transsexual Mayor and Member of Parliament.
Links: PrideNZ.com, Wikipedia
4 Aug 1958Politician Tim Barnett is born (Warwickshire, United Kingdom)
While in Parliament Barnett introduced the Prostitution Reform Bill 2003 and was also heavily involved in the Civil Union Bill 2004.
Links: PrideNZ.com, Wikipedia, Parliament
21 Feb 1960Poet Walter D'Arcy Cresswell dies (London, United Kingdom)
Cresswell dies of accidental gas poisioning.
Links: Te Ara, GayNZ.net
10 Sep 1960Plastic surgeon Harold Gillies dies (London, United Kingdom)
Gillies is widely considered the father of plastic surgery and gender-reassignment surgery.
Links: Wikipedia
31 Oct 1960Darren Horn is born (New Zealand)
Horn was an early convener of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Links: New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt
5 Oct 1963Writer James Courage dies (London, United Kingdom)
Links: Te Ara
1964Writer Paula Boock is born (New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia
12 Aug 1965Tuini Moetu Haangu Ngawai dies (New Zealand)
Ngawai was a prolific Ngati Porou songwriter, composer, teacher and shearer who had close relationships with women. One of Ngawai's most famous songs Arohaina mai became the unofficial hymn of the Maori Battalion.
Links: Te Ara
11 Apr 1967Stanley Waipouri is born (Auckland region, New Zealand)
Waipouri was killed in Palmerston North in 2006.
Links: GayNZ.com
1968Writer and musician Hinemoana Baker is born (New Zealand)
29 Feb 1968Composer Gareth Farr is born (New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia, NZ on Screen
7 Apr 1970Composer Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears tour New Zealand (New Zealand)
The visit was part of a tour to generate money for the rebuilding of the concert hall at The Maltings.
Links: Music Web
Mar 1972Ngahuia Te Awekotuku is refused a United States visa because she is a known "sexual deviant" (New Zealand)
20 May 1973Writer and poet Charles Brasch dies (New Zealand)
1975Carmen Rupe announces she knows of gay and bisexual members of Parliament (Wellington, New Zealand)
Carmen is required to apologise by Parliament's Privileges Committee.
Links: Te Ara, Te Papa
1976National MP Marilyn Waring is outed by the Truth newspaper (New Zealand)
1 Dec 1976Matthew Shepard is born (Wyoming, United States of America)
Shepard was murdered in October 1998 in Wyoming by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson.
Links: Wikipedia
30 Nov 1978Diplomat Alister McIntosh dies
1 Mar 1982Writer Frank Sargeson dies (New Zealand)
17 Jul 1982Eve van Grafhorst is born (New South Wales, Australia)
Links: Wikipedia
2 Feb 1985Jeff Whittington is born (Wellington, New Zealand)
Whittington was later murdered in Wellington by Jason Meads and Stephen Smith in May 1999.
Links: Wikipedia
19 Feb 1985Civil libertarian Walter Scott dies (New Zealand)
20 Mar 1985Keith Hay and Peter Tait take over the anti-homosexual law reform petition (New Zealand)
Links: LAGANZ
1 Jun 1985AIDS activist and educator Bruce Burnett dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
Links: PrideNZ, LAGANZ
14 Jul 1985Artist Theo Schoon dies
2 Oct 1985Actor Rock Hudson dies from AIDS-related complications (Los Angeles, United States of America)
Links: Wikipedia
2 Jan 1986Artist Leo Bensemann dies (Christchurch, New Zealand)
17 Apr 1986The media reports that Eve van Grafhorst is confirmed to have AIDS (Hastings, New Zealand)
Van Grafhorst was born prematurely in 1982 and required eleven blood transfusions to save her life. One of the transfusions was contaminated and van Grafhorst contracted HIV.
Links: Wikipedia
19 Nov 1987National MP Norman Jones dies (New Zealand)
Jones had been a vehement opponent of homosexual law reform. He dies of a brain tumor.
27 Dec 1987Writer and educator Rewi Alley dies (Beijing, China)
Links: Wikipedia, Te Ara
4 Aug 1988Photographer Brian Brake dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia
31 Oct 1988Peter Cuthbert dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Cuthbert is remembered in the first panel of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Links: NZ AIDS Memorial Quilt
24 Mar 1989Tom McLean, journalist and author of If I Should Die dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt, WorldCat
14 Oct 1989Artist Rodney Kennedy dies
23 Apr 1990Singer Lew Pryme dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
Pryme dies from AIDS-related complications.
Links: NZ On Screen
17 Jul 1992Lawyer and social reformer Frank Haigh dies
Among other things Haigh was prominent in the cause of homosexual law reform.
5 Aug 1992Former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
In 1976 Muldoon revealed in Parliament that prominent Labour MP Colin Moyle had been questioned by the police in regard to possible homosexual soliciting. Moyle subsequently resigned from Parliament in 1977.
Links: Te Ara
4 Sep 1993Darren Horn dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
Horn was an early convener of the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Links: New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt
20 Nov 1993Eve van Grafhorst dies from AIDS-related complications (Hastings, New Zealand)
Links: Wikipedia
24 Nov 1993David Halls (Hudson and Halls) is found dead in his apartment (London, United Kingdom)
Halls commits suicide after his partner Peter Hudson died from cancer a year earlier. Halls wrote "Without Peter I don't want to go on - he was my life, and I have no regrets. I love him now as much as I always did and I want to be with him for all eternity."
28 Sep 1994AIDS activist and educator Tom O'Donoghue dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
O'Donoghue was a founding member of the National People Living With AIDS Union and Collective Thinking, a publication for people living with, or affected by, HIV AIDS.
Links: New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt, Tui Motu InterIslands Magazine
27 Nov 1994Artist Arthur Tauhore dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Tauhore dies from AIDS related illnesses.
1 Jan 1995Dancer Warren Douglas dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
The Warren Douglas Scholarship Fund was subsequently established in May 1995 to help those who wanted to make the transition from performer to arts administrator, as he had done. Douglas is remembered on the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt.
Links: New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt, Warren Douglas Scholarship Fund
25 Mar 1995Writer Eric McCormick dies
McCormick wrote biographies on Alexander Turnbull and Frances Hodgkins.
Links: Te Ara
1996Mani Bruce Mitchell publicly comes out as Intersex (New Zealand)
Mani is recognised as the first out Intersex person in New Zealand
Links: PrideNZ
25 Jan 1996Composer Jonathan Larson dies (New York, United States of America)
Larson's musical Rent was just days away from opening on Broadway when he passed away.
Links: New York Times
18 Jul 1996Singer Shona Laing comes out as bisexual during a concert performance (New Zealand)
Laing's coming out was reported in Express magazine.
Links: Wikipedia
2 Jan 1997Morals campaigner Keith Hay dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
Hay took a lead role in campaigning against homosexual law reform in 1985/86
Links: Te Ara
1 Jan 1998Jacqui Grant is made a Member of the NZ Order of Merit (New Zealand)
Grant was given the award for her work as a foster parent to more than 60 children. She is affectionately known as the tranny granny of the West Coast
Links: Te Ara, A Gender Variance Whos Who
30 Aug 1998Artist Toss Woollaston dies (Tasman region, New Zealand)
Links: Te Ara
19 Mar 1999Freda Stark (dancer) dies
Links: Te Ara
8 Nov 2000Patricia Bartlett (morals campaigner) dies
6 Jun 2001Douglas Lilburn (composer) dies
Lilburn, described as the "grandfather of New Zealand music," dies peacefully at his home in Wellington. Lilburn was a composer, teacher, philanthropist and advocate for social justice.
9 Aug 2002Auckland police senior sergeant Mark Richards resigns after a newspaper "sting". (Auckland, New Zealand)
Richards resigns despite being cleared of any criminal wrongdoing after he discussed drug use with a newspaper reporter. The Sunday Star Times headline read "Senior policeman at the centre of sex and drugs investigation resigns before facing internal charges".
Links: Queer News Aotearoa
28 Sep 2002Michael Pattison gains media attention as an openly gay man competing in the Cleo Bachelor of the Year. (New Zealand)
Pattison has previously won Mr Gay Wellington and Mr Drag Wellington.
Links: Gay NZ, Access My Library
24 Aug 2004Brian Tamaki (Destiny Church) is interviewed about the Enough is Enough march in Wellington. (New Zealand)
The interview broadcasts during the Holmes programme on TV1.
25 Oct 2004HIV educator and activist Matt Whyte dies (New Zealand)
Links: GayNZ.com
6 Jan 2005Makgatho Mandela, the eldest son of Nelson Mandela dies of AIDS related conditions.
Links: BBC
15 Oct 2005Daniel Fielding dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Daniel established the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt project in December 1988.
Links: GayNZ.com, Tributes Online
2006Peter Wells is made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature and film (New Zealand)
Links: New Zealand Book Council
10 Oct 2006Carmen Rupe visits Parliament on her birthday (Wellington, New Zealand)
32 years earlier Carmen had been brought before Parliament's Privileges committee because she suggested there were homosexual MPs.
23 Dec 2006Stanley Waipouri is killed (Palmerston North, New Zealand)
Links: GayNZ.com
10 Feb 2007MP Chris Carter (Te Atatu, Labour Party) and Peter Kaiser are civilly joined (New Zealand)
Carter and Kaiser's civil union is the first for a Cabinet Minister or Member of Parliament in New Zealand.
Links: Wikipedia
2 May 2007Henare te Ua (broadcaster) dies. (Auckland)
Links: NZ Herald
15 Apr 2008Singer-songwriter Mahinarangi Tocker dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
Tocker dies following a severe asthma attack.
Links: Wikipedia
5 Apr 2009Marvin Te Maunga Te Kotahitanga Peihopa, a teenager bullied for being "feminine", commmits suicide. (New Zealand)
The coroner found Peihopa had experienced bullying at a number of schools in Northland before taking his own life.
Links: Stuff
29 Oct 2011Frank Lund (a.k.a. Toni Roget) dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Frankie was a female impersonator who created elaborate outfits (a number of them now are held by Te Papa)
15 Dec 2011Carmen Rupe dies (Sydney, Australia)
Carmen was a New Zealand-Australian performer, brothel keeper, anti-discrimination activist, would-be politician, and HIV AIDS activist.
Links: GayNZ.com
12 Feb 2012Andreas Derleth wins Mr Gay New Zealand 2012 (Auckland, New Zealand)
Links: GayNZ
16 Feb 2012Sam Johnson wins Young New Zealander of the Year
Johnson was the founder of the Student Volunteer Army that assisted during the Christchurch earthquake recovery
19 Apr 2012Johnny Croskery (female impersonator, volunteer, activist) dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: Tapatoru
28 Feb 2013Coroner Gordon Matenga rules Douglas Hughes (soldier) committed suicide. (New Zealand)
Links: Stuff
29 Mar 2013Former MP Warren Freer dies (New Zealand)
21 Jun 2013Artist Meg Torwl dies
Links: North Shore News, PrideNZ.com
22 Aug 2013Actor Wentworth Miller comes out in an open letter protesting Russia's anti-gay laws. (United States of America)
Miller is best know for his role in the tv series Prison Break.
Links: Stuff
3 Sep 2013Coroner H Brandt Shortland finds a teenager bullied for being "feminine", committed suicide. (New Zealand)
Marvin Te Maunga Te Kotahitanga Peihopa died on 5 April 2009.
Links: Stuff
16 Sep 2013Peter Taylor, a well known Auckland personality dies. (Auckland, New Zealand)
Taylor died shortly after stopping treatments for long-term HIV and leishmaniasis infections.
Links: GayNZ.com (1), GayNZ.com (2)
27 Sep 2013Paul Findlay resigns as a board-member of youth group Q-topia. (Christchurch, New Zealand)
A sexting conversation was publicized in the media allegedly between Findlay and a person identifying themselves as a fifteen-year-old.
Links: NZ Herald, GayNZ
28 Sep 2013NZ AIDS Foundation kaumatua Aunty Wai Mason dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
Links: Gay NZ, NZ AIDS Foundation, PrideNZ.com
1 Oct 2013Nathan Verhelst, a Belgium transsexual, dies through euthanasia
Verhelst told media "None of these [gender reassignment] operations worked as desired ... I do not want to be a monster."
Links: Stuff
1 Oct 2013The Solicitor General (Mike Heron) declines a request for a second Coronial Inquiry into the death of Corporal Douglas Hughes. (New Zealand)
Hughes committed suicide in Afghanistan shortly after being questioned about a situation with a subordinate soldier.
Links: Gay NZ
17 Oct 2013Geno Sisneros' complaint against the Anglican Church is dismissed by the Human Rights Tribunal. (Auckland, New Zealand)
Sisneros complained that the Bishop of Auckland had prevented him from becoming a priest because of his sexuality.
Links: Gay NZ
26 Oct 2013Dramatist and performer Paul Jenden dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Jenden was a lyricist, writer and choreographer of numerous New Zealand productions.
Links: GayNZ.com, Stuff
27 Dec 2013Entrepreneur Tony Katavich dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
Katavich created the Out! business empire with Brett Sheppard.
Links: GayNZ.com
3 Oct 2015Author William Taylor dies (Taumarunui, New Zealand)
Links: GayNZ.com (1), GayNZ.com (2), NZ Society of Authors
15 May 2017Vicki Letele dies (Auckland, New Zealand)
Letele, who was serving a prison term for fraud, was denied parole in October 2016, but was released on compassionate grounds in November 2016 to spend her final months with loved ones.
Links: GayNZ
16 Jun 2017Mika X is confirmed as The Opportunities Party (TOP) candidate for the Auckland Central Electorate (Auckland, New Zealand)
TOP was founded by philanthropist Gareth Morgan in November 2016.
Links: Scoop
5 Jul 2017Creative New Zealand announces writer Paul Diamond is the latest recipient of the Berlin Writers Residency (New Zealand)
Diamond will spend up to 11 months in Berlin researching and writing a book about former Whanganui mayor, Charles Mackay, who was killed in Berlin in 1929 while working as a journalist
Links: Creative New Zealand
12 Jul 2017Alison Mau is announced as a finalist in the Women of Influence awards (New Zealand)
Established in 2012, the awards are run by Fairfax Media
Links: Stuff
20 Jan 2018So'oalo To'oto'oali'i Roger Stanley dies (Samoa)
Stanley was the founder and President of the Samoa Fa'afafine Association.
Links: Express, Samoa Observer
12 Feb 2018Dana de Milo dies (Wellington, New Zealand)
Links: Facebook