Over the Rainbow - Queer History Kōrero

Over the Rainbow – Queer History Kōrero is a vibrant, intergenerational conversation recorded at Wellington Museum as part of the 2025 Wellington Heritage Festival. Hosted by Leilani Sio, the event features veteran hospitality figures Malcolm Vaughan and Scott Kennedy, interviewed by historian Will Hansen. The discussion celebrates five decades of queer nightlife, love, resilience, and community leadership in Wellington, spanning from the 1970s to today.

Leilani Sio opens with a karakia and warm welcome. She reflects on how spaces like the Evergreen Coffee Lounge once offered safe havens for queer people, and she honours Malcolm (Mal) Vaughan’s decades of service to the rainbow community through hospitality.

Mal Vaughan recalls discovering his sexuality young, and how working in the Merchant Navy and hospitality trade helped shape his confidence. His early career included time aboard the inter-island ferries Rangatira and Aramoana, where he met other gay seafarers who became his mentors. After shore work at the St George Hotel and the Western Park Tavern, he managed the legendary Bamboo Bar at the Royal Oak Hotel. In that era, bars doubled as lifelines for queer people—safe social spaces before law reform or anti-discrimination protections existed.

At the Royal Oak, Mal met Georgina Beyer before her transition. They shared a flat on Buller Street and became lifelong friends. The conversation offers a heartfelt portrait of Georgina—her humour, fire, and trailblazing leadership as the world’s first openly trans mayor and MP. Mal recounts how he and Scotty and a close group cared for her through her illness, helping fulfil her final wishes, and scattering her ashes across Parliament Grounds, Carterton, and Point Jerningham. He and Scotty ensured her legacy lived on, attending the naming of Georgina Beyer Way in Carterton and preserving the original street sign for display in their bar.

Mal also speaks of the Afterlife Memorial Trust, founded in the early 2000s after witnessing the undignified funeral of their transgender friend Alexis Kennedy, whose family refused to recognise her gender. That experience drove Mal, Scotty and friends to establish the trust so rainbow people could “die with dignity.” Later renamed the Chrissy Witoko Memorial Trust, it honours another Wellington icon—the Evergreen’s founder—and has since assisted over 20 funerals, sponsored a HIV/AIDS documentary, and continues to support community initiatives.

The conversation moves through the AIDS crisis years, when funerals were weekly and stigma ran deep. Bars became places of mourning as much as celebration. Mal describes how Wellington’s gay nightlife evolved—venues like The Toledo, Bojangles, Pound, and The Dome—each one a labour of love. He and Scotty even hid a time capsule under the floor of the old Dome Bar (now the Welsh Dragon Bar), sealing photos, articles, and a joint “for future archaeologists.”

Scotty Kennedy joins the stage midway, sharing the story of how he and Mal met. Their paths crossed for years before fate finally united them over a pool table at Casper’s Bar in the early 1990s—“our first kiss over the table.” Together for 33 years, they have become pillars of Wellington’s queer community. Their relationship gained national fame in 2003 when they won the ZM radio competition My Bent Friend’s Wedding. The playful campaign, broadcast live across New Zealand, sent them to Hawaii to marry before civil unions or same-sex marriage were legal here in New Zealand. Amid bomb threats and backlash, their radio wedding and cheeky humour—complete with a poem asking “Why should we have to go overseas to wed?”—captured hearts nationwide. It also inspired some families to reconcile and shifted attitudes toward marriage equality.

In 2005 the couple opened Scotty and Mal's Cocktail Bar on Cuba Street, a landmark of Wellington’s queer nightlife for nearly two decades. Their “Wall of Fame,” inspired by Melbourne’s Prince of Wales Hotel, memorialises community members lost to HIV / AIDS and honours icons such as Georgina Beyer, Chrissy Witoko, and Alexis Kennedy. The bar remains a welcoming, mixed space where allies and queer patrons mingle under one roof—“If you’re homophobic, there’s the door.”

Mal and Scott’s anecdotes range from hilarious to heartfelt—elderly patrons caught in compromising positions, Paul Holmes drinking sambuca until dawn, and the endless rhythm of karaoke nights, drag shows, and charity events. They recall running nightclubs like Pound, where on the closing night of the club, queues stretched to end of Te Aro Park, and drag performers such as Polly Filla packed the house until sunrise. Through every success and setback—including losing thousands in failed ventures and rebuilding after COVID—they’ve stayed true to their ethos of community care and safe celebration.

They credit their longevity to hard work, inclusiveness, and the love of their patrons. From training generations of bartenders to collaborating with nearby eateries and hosting community events, they’ve made S and M’s not just a bar but a cultural home. Now entering their 19th year in 2025, Mal (who turns 70 in March 2026) and Scotty continue to run the venue together, though they joke about retirement. “We’ll keep it going until someone else takes the reins,” Mal says.

Over the Rainbow – Queer History Kōrero stands as a lively, emotional journey through five decades of Wellington’s rainbow culture. It honours pioneers like Georgina Beyer and Chrissy Witoko, recognises the power of queer nightlife in shaping identity and activism, and reminds listeners that visibility, acceptance, and love are hard-won achievements worth protecting.

This summary is created using Generative AI. Although it is based on the recording's transcription, it may contain errors or omissions. Click here to learn more about how this summary was created.

Leilani Sio Malcolm Vaughan Scott Kennedy Will Hansen

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