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| irn | 8074 |
| master_filename | 001028_MIX_transgender_day_of_remembrance_service_2025.wav |
| master_md5 | 456E05AE9472F30FDF1122049BB4DD03 |
| master_duration | 42:16 |
| master_sample_rate | 44.1 kHz |
| master_bit_depth | 16 bit |
| master_channels | 1 |
| media_reference | 001028 |
| media_source | PrideNZ.com |
| copyright_position | In copyright |
| copyright_ownership | Gareth Watkins (PrideNZ.com) |
| copyright_ownership_note | |
| submitted_to_nlnz | 14-12-2025 |
| public_url | https://www.pridenz.com/transgender_day_of_remembrance_2025.html |
| meta_url | https://www.pridenz.com/data/media/meta/8074.html |
| plain_text_url | https://www.pridenz.com/plaintext/transgender_day_of_remembrance_2025.txt |
| production_date | 23-11-2025 |
| production_day | 23 |
| production_month | 11 |
| production_year | 2025 |
| recording_type | Church service |
| series | |
| sub_series | |
| title | Transgender Day of Remembrance 2025 |
| description | Audio from the service at St Andrew's on the Terrace, Wellington to commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance. The service took place on Sunday 23 November, with the Day of Remembrance on the 20th November. A special thank you to St Andrew's for allowing this event to be recorded and shared. This recording has been edited, with some parts of the service not included. Details. 00:01 - Call to worship and Gathering, Dr Rev Fei Taule'ale'ausumai. 00:48 - Dr Rev Fei Taule'ale'ausumai. 02:34 - Opening prayer. 03:58 - Jesus' prayer. 05:08 - Lighting the Rainbow candle. 05:38 - The Word in texts, Gillian Feist. 07:02 - Contemporary reading - Transgender Day of Remembrance Poem (Steph Meech), Gillian Feist. 08:48 - Reflection, Mani Mitchell. 22:38 - Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen), Peter Franklin (piano). 26:04 - Time of Remembrance, Fionn McKenzie. 33:17 - Carry the Light (Andy Beck), The Glamaphones. 37:40 - Prayers of the People, Anna Smith. 41:30 - Blessing, Dr Rev Fei Taule'ale'ausumai. 41:52 - Amen. |
| summary_computer_generated | Transgender Day of Remembrance 2025 is a powerful 42-minute audio recording of a special church service held at St Andrew’s on the Terrace in central Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. The service, marking Transgender Day of Remembrance on 23 November 2025, weaves together worship, personal testimony, music and political context to honour transgender, non-binary, intersex and gender diverse communities, and to remember those lost to violence, hatred, neglect and suicide. Led by Dr Rev Fei Taule’ale’ausumai, the service opens with a call to worship. The welcome explicitly names transgender, non-binary, intersex and gender diverse siblings and acknowledges those whose lives have been taken. A rainbow candle is lit as a visible symbol that St Andrew’s is an inclusive, affirming community for children, young people and adults across the rainbow. The congregation is also welcomed into the presence of special guest speaker and intersex activist Mani Mitchell, whose long history of human rights work is introduced. The first part of the service centres on prayer and scripture. An opening prayer asks for compassion, understanding and the courage to bring love instead of hate into the world. A contemporary version of the Jesus Prayer follows, reimagining God as “eternal spirit, life giver, pain bearer, love maker” and emphasising peace, freedom and justice across the universe. Biblical readings from Psalm 139 and Isaiah 43 highlight themes of being wonderfully made, known, named and accompanied through fire, water and hardship – a clear affirmation of gender diverse people as created in the image of God and worthy of dignity, safety and love. A modern poem written for Transgender Day of Remembrance, by Steph Meech, gives voice to a trans woman’s journey from hiding to self-acceptance and insists on being recognised as her true self. In the central reflection, Mani Mitchell speaks candidly about their life, activism and the political climate facing transgender and intersex communities. Born in 1953 and identified at birth as “hermaphrodite”, Mani describes being reassigned and surgically altered under a deeply binary, secretive medical model. Only in adulthood, after trauma and personal crisis, did they gain access to appropriate support and begin to tell their story publicly. Drawing on experience as a teacher, local government manager, counsellor and psychotherapist, Mani explains how these skills led to the formation of Intersex Trust Aotearoa New Zealand (ITANZ) in 1996 and the importance of working directly with doctors and the health system to change attitudes and practice. Mani recalls early fundraising and community support, including a landmark 1998 “Concert for Courage” at St Andrew’s that helped raise both money and visibility for intersex rights. They also honour key figures such as Dame Margaret Sparrow, whose medical and advocacy work underpinned ITANZ, the late Georgina Beyer and the South African intersex activist and theologian Sally Gross, whose life story connected anti-apartheid struggle, religious service and gender identity. Mani places these personal histories within a broader human rights narrative that stretches from the 1950s to the 2020s, and across Aotearoa, the Pacific, South Africa and Europe. A major part of the reflection addresses the current political moment in Aotearoa New Zealand. Mani condemns the government’s 2025 decision, announced by Health Minister Simeon Brown during the week of Transgender Day of Remembrance, to stop prescribing puberty blockers for transgender youth. They note that the policy relies on widely discredited research and forms part of a wider far-right agenda rolling back human rights protections, targeting marginal communities and interfering in medical care. Drawing a historical parallel with Nazi Germany’s early targeting of transgender communities, Mani warns that trans people have again become symbols in a global hate movement, and calls on listeners to respond with organised love, vocal resistance and solidarity. Music plays a strong role in the service’s emotional arc. Peter Franklin performs Over the Rainbow on piano, underscoring the longing for safety, acceptance and a better world beyond current hostility. Later, queer community choir The Glamaphones sings Carry the Light, inviting the congregation to think about how they can actively carry hope and support, especially for trans and gender diverse youth. These musical moments offer space for grief, reflection and collective resolve. Fionn McKenzie, a long-time member of the St Andrew’s community, leads the Time of Remembrance. They share statistics from the Trans Murder Monitoring project: 281 reported murders of trans and gender diverse people in the previous year, with trans women, Black and Indigenous people, people of colour, sex workers and activists disproportionately targeted. Fionn speaks to the fear and despair that many young people are feeling in the wake of the puberty blocker ban and rising anti-trans rhetoric, and stresses the importance of connection, community and speaking out rather than being silenced. A series of structured candle-lighting prayers follows, each dedicating a candle to different groups: those murdered, those whose deaths were never reported, those who died through lack of shelter, healthcare or income, those who took their own lives after internalising societal hatred, and finally for a future where transgender, gender diverse and intersex children are cherished and allowed to flourish. The language is explicitly about justice, liberation, radical inclusion, dignity and systemic change, linking personal grief with collective action. The service concludes with prayers of the people that widen the circle to include refugees, other faith communities, political leaders and churches around the motu, while holding fast to the realities of violence facing gender diverse whānau. The final blessing calls on God’s delight to fill people with joy and strength to embody Christ’s love in the world. |
| interviewer | |
| voices | Anna Smith; Fei Taule'ale'ausumai; Fionn McKenzie; Gillian Feist; Mani Bruce Mitchell |
| tags | intersex; transgender; 1950s; 2020s; far-right ideologies; far-right politics; gender identity; hate; intersex visibility; puberty blockers; Tiriti o Waitangi / Treaty of Waitangi; violence; youth; St Andrew's on the Terrace; Aotearoa New Zealand; Wellington; Intersex Trust Aotearoa New Zealand (ITANZ); Anna Smith; Fionn McKenzie; Georgina Beyer; Gillian Feist; Harold Arlen; Mani Bruce Mitchell; Margaret Sparrow; Peter Franklin; Sally Gross |
| tags_computer_generated | gay; profile; Youth; education; politics; sex; health; mental health; activism; history; hate crime; human rights; family; photography; support; music; research; crime; courts; rural; privilege; identity; parents; legacy; death; film; community; South Africa; Germany; dignity; discrimination; training; respect; children; diversity; murder; fear; trust; church; love; prejudice; reading; singing; queer; Pacific; confidence; government; faith; Bible; silence; justice; passion; policy; allies; gender; shame; desire; oppression; Hastings; compassion; pronouns; difference; peace; accident; questioning; rainbow; freedom; liberation; Israel; loss; building; bigotry; acceptance; safety; hope; rejection; persecution; running; change; advice; resistance; opportunity; siblings; threats; power; trans; binary; prayer; hair; courage; understanding; Member of Parliament; rhetoric; agenda; trauma; inclusion; struggle; voice; beauty; choice; race; march; other; glamour; humanity; gender nonconforming; Presbyterian; actions; connect; reflection; Kindle; drawing; truth; Nazi Germany; strength; teacher; future; work; survey; puberty; face; mahi; pain; intolerance; emotional; gender diverse; Africa; worship; God; remembrance; advocate; scripture; treaty; People; Venezuela; access; board; knowledge; legislation; trans woman; time; Transgender Day of Remembrance; fire; blessing; misinformation; glam; movement; period; skies; symbolism; secret; memory; neglect; rebirthing |
| location_name | St Andrew's on the Terrace |
| location | 30 The Terrace |
| broader_location | Wellington |
| location_lat | -41.279956001039984 |
| location_long | 174.77518521813343 |
| precise_locality | true |