The title of this recording is "Alison Laurie - Bigot Busters rally". It is described as: Alison Laurie addresses the Bigot Busters rally held at the Wellington Town Hall on 21 May 1985. It was recorded in Wellington Town Hall, 101 Wakefield Street, Wellington on the 21st May 1985. Alison Laurie is speaking at an event.  Their name is spelt correctly but may appear incorrectly spelt later in the document. The duration of the recording is 14 minutes, but this may not reflect the actual length of the event. A list of correctly spelt content keywords and tags can be found at the end of this document. A brief description of the recording is: Alison Laurie addresses the Bigot Busters rally held at the Wellington Town Hall on 21 May 1985. A detailed log of this recording (cassette 0503-B) is available from the LAGANZ website. The content in the recording covers the 1980s decade. A brief summary of the recording is: At a pivotal political rally titled the Bigot Busters rally at Wellington Town Hall in 1985, Alison Laurie delivered a passionate speech on the intersectionality of oppressions faced by women, particularly emphasizing the experiences of lesbians. The speaker argued that lesbians confront at least a double burden, being oppressed not only as women but also for their sexual orientation. Additionally, for some, factors such as race and class could further compound their marginalization. Laurie stressed that the journey toward liberation is interconnected; no woman can be truly free until the choice to be a lesbian is devoid of societal and economic reprisals. Laurie illuminated how the society employs vilification of lesbians as a mechanism to maintain rigid gender expectations across all women, leveraging the fear of being labeled a lesbian to stifle autonomy and confine women to stereotypical roles. The insistence on heteronormative behavior keeps many women, in addition to closeted lesbians, entrenched in subservient positions of silence and conformity. The speaker thus linked this struggle to the broader feminist crusade for self-determination over one's body and life choices, including sexual orientation and repudiating the societal prescription of compulsory heterosexuality. The account recognizes the significance of the bill under discussion - presumably the Homosexual Law Reform Act - endorsing it as a step toward eliminating criminalization and discrimination against gay men, which also casts an unjust stigma upon lesbians. Part two of the bill, which concerns human rights protections for both lesbians and gay men, was identified as essential, although Laurie noted that it did not go as far as measures adopted in other countries, citing the stronger legal protections in Scandinavia against the vilification of sexual minorities. Laurie then drew attention to the troubling prevalence of homophobia, asserting that the same societal forces driving sexism, racism, and classism emanate from a conservative socio-political structure maintained by straight, white, middle-class men. They epitomize the power dynamic that seeks to preserve privilege by systemically disenfranchising others. Urging solidarity and alliance with other marginalized groups, the speaker invoked historical atrocities, such as the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust, as a poignant reminder of what can transpire when rights are trampled and voices of opposition are scattered or silenced. To overturn this narrative, the necessity of visibility was underscored as a means of empowerment and resistance. Laurie implored those present, and the wider community, to be open about their identity, stressing the hazards of remaining closeted both for individuals and the broader movement. Recognizing the personal risks and sacrifices that could accompany such disclosures, Laurie argued that the cost of inauthenticity to one's mental health and societal invisibility must also be weighed. The call to action was clear: to embrace visibility and to contribute proactively to molding a more secure and inclusive community by actively participating in activism, such as signing support initiatives and joining marches. The recording captures a seminal moment in the fight for LGBT rights, with Laurie's speech at the Bigot Busters rally resonating as a frank appeal for collective action against systemic oppression. The full transcription of the recording follows.  It includes timestamps every thirty seconds in the format [HH:MM:SS].  The transcription begins:  I would like to talk about why this bill is important for all women, and especially for lesbians. As lesbians, we experience at least a double oppression. We're oppressed both as women and as lesbian. Some of us are also further oppressed because of our race or because of our class. [00:00:30] Because of this, our interest in the bill is different from that of gay men, though of equal importance, it has been said that no woman is free until every woman is free to choose to be a lesbian. What do we mean by that? One very important thing that we mean is that all women are kept in line and are made to conform to a rigid and sexist stereotype by the threat of what happens to [00:01:00] lesbians of the social, economic and other punishments which we experience as lesbians, any woman, lesbian or not, pre lesbian, perhaps hm, who chooses not to marry, not to have Children, to live alone or with other women who chooses not to have sex with men who [00:01:30] chooses to work in a so-called untraditional occupation who chooses to dress in comfortable practical clothing rather than sexy feminine frills. Any woman who objects to being treated as a sex object and objects to being subjected to sexual harassment from men at her workplace on the street or socially. Any woman who is strong, outspoken, who demands equal treatment, who campaigns against rape against the pornographic depictions of women, any woman who campaigns [00:02:00] for abortion and a woman's right to choose, in short, any woman who steps outside of what has been defined as our proper sex role and stereotype. Any woman who steps outside that in any way risks being punished as lesbian. Whether she is or not to make women afraid of being lesbian is therefore a powerful weapon which reactionary patriarchs can use against all women. Not only does this keep many lesbians [00:02:30] in the closet, but it keeps most women safely confined and quiet. Therefore, no woman is free until any and every woman is free to be lesbian, without social and economic punishments and without risk. This is the important feminist principle of self determination, of every woman's rights, to her own body and to her own life. A woman's right to choose on the abortion issue, though of vital importance, is only part of [00:03:00] the much wider issue of our right to choose our own sexuality and to choose our own lives. A woman's right to choose for herself, not as a creature designed to to serve others, uh, and in a rigid stereotype set up to benefit patriarchs but for herself, for ourselves, our lives We live in a system of compulsory heterosexuality by compulsory [00:03:30] heterosexuality. We're not just talking about forced marriages, but but about the constant pressure which every woman experiences, that she should conform to what the Patriarchs demand. That means that we live in a system which has institutionalised heterosexuality. And this has been called hetero sexism and hetero sexism. Uh, is a particularly vile and horrible oppression. [00:04:00] So far as this bill is concerned, we support it as lesbians. We support part one of the bill because while gay men are are criminalised, then we suffer from the stigma of that as well. Um, a lot of people believe, in fact, that we are criminal. We're certainly treated as criminals. So, uh, part one of the bill is enormously important [00:04:30] because the aspect of criminalization must be removed. Part two of the bill is extremely important to us. Uh, because that is the part which provides for human rights for lesbians and gay men human rights in all of the areas which the Human Rights Act covers. This, of course, does not go far enough. Many other countries provide more protection [00:05:00] for lesbians and gay men, in particular the Scandinavian countries. Uh, that is one of the reasons why so many of our New Zealand lesbians and gay men have chosen to live in exile. Uh, all over the world, you'll find communities of New Zealand lesbians and gay men. Uh, not only in these times, but in previous times many of our greatest, uh, people left New Zealand because of the oppression which they experienced as lesbian, uh, writers like Catherine Mansfield, [00:05:30] for example. Other countries provide more protection in a number of ways. Um, in Norway, for example, there is, uh, there are laws which provide for jail sentences for people who make public utterances against lesbians or gay men. Uh, and in those countries, people who uh, made the sort of utterances we've been hearing in the past few months would in fact be put in prison. [00:06:00] Now, some of those people would say that that denied them free speech, they would say that their free speech means that they should be able to make whatever kind of utters they like. Um, and that's a very interesting principle, because, in fact, what those people are trying to do is to deny us free speech by creating a climate of opinion where it becomes impossible for us to be visible. They are effectively denying us [00:06:30] free speech. They're also doing something which the Scandinavians call mobbing and mobbing is something which, uh, if you were a Scandinavian school child, you would be being taught about that. The Scandinavians say that mobbing is something which starts in Children. It starts at the point where a group of Children, either because they're more powerful or more numerous, decide to select out a group or an individual for particular punishment, either because, uh, the [00:07:00] child is not wearing the correct designer jeans, Um, or because they're of a different race or class or some reason like that, that mobbing begins in these childish ways. In schools and in adulthood, it takes particularly horrible forms because in adulthood it turns into the kind of fascism, uh, which believes that it can exterminate groups of people, uh, that it can persecute groups of people and that it is entitled to do that. Uh, and [00:07:30] no truly democratic society can permit mobbing on any level. Which is why, uh, many of those countries have passed those kinds of laws which prevent people from making, uh, horrific public utterances. And we do accept that principle in New Zealand because under the race relations Act, uh, there is some protection given there. Uh, we must remember [00:08:00] that we have links and connections with people suffering other kinds of oppressions. We must recognise the links between racism and classism and sexism and our own oppression. All of those kinds of oppressions come from the same place They come from a group of straight white, [00:08:30] middle class men who enjoy many privileges themselves and who believe that in order to preserve those privileges, it is necessary to deny them to others. It is therefore of great importance that we see those links with other oppressions and that we support people who suffer [00:09:00] equally with us from people from that group. Many things have happened in the past to gay people and to lesbians, uh, which also happened to other groups had those people at that time sought alliances with other groups. It's not to say that those things might not have happened, but at least [00:09:30] they would have tried. At least there would have been an attempt to prevent those things happening. Germany's Holocaust, the Holocaust, in which half a million lesbians and gay men were put to death by the Nazis, Germany's Holocaust within the Holocaust might have been able to be prevented if all of the oppressed groups had been able to see where it was coming from, had made those links and connections, and tried to do something about the right wing before [00:10:00] it was too late. Unfortunately for many people, by the time they make those connections, it can be too late. People are already saying in this country that, uh, we should suffer the death penalty. Uh, and those same kind of people who are saying that we'll certainly be saying it about other groups as well. Many of them believe it. [00:10:30] Yeah, many of them, many of them believe it. Um, and I think it's necessary to take those people seriously. I think it's necessary to see just who they are and where they're coming from and what it is that they intend. Um, so what can we do? One of the most important things is to be visible to be visible as lesbians [00:11:00] and gay men. Those of you who are here tonight are making a statement by, um, By coming out publicly, you'll have another opportunity on Friday to march in the Lesbian and Gay Rights March. You've got an opportunity to put your name in the newspaper. An ad is being run on Friday morning in the Dominion, uh, in support of the bill. And if you haven't signed for that ad yet, you can sign in two categories. Uh, category one, lesbians and gay men who support [00:11:30] the bill or as supporters of the bill. But if you haven't signed that ad yet, uh, you'll have an opportunity to do so. Tonight there's a table outside the main door. Those are a couple of the things that you can do at the moment. But more importantly than that, visibility is ensuring that as many people as possible know that you are lesbian or gay. A closet is a very dangerous place to be. It's dangerous for two reasons. It's dangerous because the society can pretend [00:12:00] that you don't exist. If you make it comfortable for them, they can say that there are not many of us. Um, they can pretend, uh, that we we are not around. And secondly, it's very bad for you, uh, within yourself to be forced to live the kind of stressful life that living in a closet involves. And the kind of mental pressure that you suffer living in a closet. The fear [00:12:30] that, um, the secret will be disclosed is not one that it's easy to live with. Of course, there are risks involved in coming out of the closet, and there are sacrifices, too. But you have to weigh that cost up the sorts of friends that you might lose if you came out of the closet. Are they worth having? Um, perhaps you might lose your job. And in these economic times, that's a very difficult decision to make. But maybe for the sake of your own sanity, that could be a decision you might [00:13:00] want to want to take. Um, you might get thrown out of your rented accommodation as yet. We don't have these protections. Uh, but once again, that's a risk that you might want to take and that you should seriously look at what you believe would be the consequences of coming out and see how many of those areas in your life. Um, you could take that decision to make yourself visible because the more of us who are visible, [00:13:30] the more visibility we have. Uh, the safer, the stronger our community will be. So come out now, be visible. Tell everyone you can be blatant, be as gay and as lesbian as you can all the time. The full transcription of the recording ends. A list of keywords/tags describing the recording follow. These tags contain the correct spellings of names and places which may have been incorrectly spelt earlier in the document. The tags are seperated by a semi-colon: 1980s ; Alison Laurie ; Bigot Busters ; Bigot Busters rally (1985, Wellington) ; Homer ; Homosexual Law Reform Act (1986) ; Job ; National Gay Rights Coalition ; People ; The Closet ; The Holocaust ; Wellington ; Wellington Town Hall ; abortion ; activism ; campaigns ; children ; class ; classism ; closet ; clothing ; coming out ; community ; connections ; death ; death penalty ; fascism ; fear ; free speech ; friends ; gaming ; gay ; gay liberation movement ; harassment ; homosexual law reform ; human rights ; individual ; lesbian ; march ; media ; middle class ; occupation ; opportunity ; oppression ; other ; police ; politics ; prison ; punishment ; race ; racism ; rage ; rally ; school ; self determination ; sex ; sexism ; sexuality ; social ; speech ; stigma ; straight ; suffering ; support ; time ; visibility ; women ; work. The original recording can be heard at this website https://www.pridenz.com/alison_laurie_bigot_busters_rally.html. Alison Laurie also features audibly in the following recordings: "Alison Laurie profile", "Legal background for LGBT communities", "Early lesbian and gay groups", "Hagley Park killing", "Gay Liberation", "Law reform in New Zealand", "Human rights and civil unions", "Frances Hodgkins", "Parker and Hulme murder case", "Meeting places", "Labels", "Katherine Mansfield", "Lesbian organising", "Ursula Bethell", "Alison Laurie - KAHA Youth Hui 2009", "25th anniversary panel discussion on homosexual law reform", "Criminal cases", "Rainbow Pride Community Honours (2015) - Part 3", "Part 1 - Opening ceremony at Parliament - Wellington Pride Festival 2016" and "Stonewall 25". Please note that this document may contain errors or omissions - you should always refer back to the original recording to confirm content.