Tamati Coffey Gay roving weather reporter Tamati Coffey, dancer and snowboarder Hayley Holt and ‘Nek Minnit man’ Levi Hawken are among the New Zealanders who share real stories of how bullying has impacted their lives in a powerful new Pink Shirt Day video. The video has been released ahead of Pink Shirt Day 2012, on 18 May, when people across the country are urged to wear pink shirts in a stand against any kind of bullying, including homophobic and transphobic harassment. “As a kid my teeth were all pointy, they were sharp,” recalls the man who made the phrase ‘Nek Minnit’ infamous, Levi Hawken. “So I used to get to get called Dracula. I also had very fine hair so I used to get called baldy, everyone thought I had cancer because obviously in the 80s people weren’t that smart.” He advises young people: “don’t get mad, get better … they’re using up all their power and wasting it, make sure you don’t waste yours.” Coffey recalls being bullied at primary school, who was always putting people down. He advises people to talk to their friends and deal with bullies in a group. Holt, now a successful TV personality and presenter, was bullied at intermediate by older girls. “You try to pretend that it doesn’t affect you, but of course deep down it’s quite hurtful.” Witi Ashby, who grew up in a Once Were Warriors style life, but turned things around, shares his experiences of the horrible things he saw that will stay with him for life. My Wedding and Other Secrets co-writer and director Roseanna Liang shares her regrets about never standing up to bullies, who picked on a classmate who was a loner. Coffey finishes the video urging people to wear a pink shirt on 18 May, “know that there are kids who will see your pink shirt, and maybe, maybe, it might give them enough strength to deal with their bullying.” The team behind Pink Shirt Day says this year’s message is about the power we all have to prevent bullying. “Everyone has the power to ask for help, the power to change behaviour and the power to intervene. What you do makes a difference, so take action: wear a pink shirt on May 18th and start a conversation.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 25th April 2012 - 11:42am