The title of this recording is "Grant Robertson and co". It is described as: As part of Out in the City 2024, MP Grant Robertson was invited to interview friends and colleagues in the main auditorium of the Michael Fowler Centre. It was recorded in Michael Fowler Centre, 111 Wakefield Street, Wellington on the 17th March 2024. This is a recording of an event and features the voices of Ayesha Verrall, Des Smith, Grant Robertson, John Jolliff and Shanan Halbert. Their names are spelt correctly, but may appear incorrectly spelt later in the document. The duration of the recording is 35 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: As part of Out in the City 2024, MP Grant Robertson was invited to interview friends and colleagues in the main auditorium of the Michael Fowler Centre. Grant talked to Des Smith and John Jolliff, MP's Ayesha Verrall and Shanan Halbert. With Grants retirement as a Member of Parliament in late March 2024, this was the last Pride event he took part while an MP. Thanks to the organisers and and participants for allowing this to be recorded and shared. The content in the recording covers the decades 1980s through to the 2020s. A brief summary of the recording is: The audio recording presents a poignant reflection of the LGBTQ+ community's journey in New Zealand from the 1980s through the 2020s. The event, part of Out in the City 2024, is notably Grant Robertson's last Pride event as a Member of Parliament, marking the end of an era in his career. The recording features discussions with notable figures such as Ayesha Verrall, Des Smith, John Jolliff, and Shanan Halbert, offering a multifaceted insight into the struggles and triumphs of the LGBTQ+ community over the years. The recording begins with Robertson acknowledging the significance of the event and the opportunity it provides to reflect on the community's history, its battles for rights, and the current challenges it faces. It vividly captures the inception of the Gay and Lesbian Fair, initiated in-part by Des Smith and John Jolliff 38 years prior, amidst the backdrop of homosexual law reform (1985/86). Des Smith recounts the organization of the first fair, aimed at promoting the law reform, highlighting the challenges, including opposition from groups wearing intimidating slogans and attempting to disrupt the event. The recording reflects on the unity within the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, illustrating how collective action and support, such as that from the Amazon Softball Club, played a critical role in the fair's success and in combating homophobia. John Jolliff's recollections add a personal touch to the narrative, sharing his and Smith's journey together and their continued activism, including their roles in the civil union and marriage equality campaigns. Their story underscores the importance of visibility, vigilance, and the ongoing fight for equality and rights within the LGBTQ+ community, emphasizing the need to support especially the trans community amid rising challenges. The recording also touches on contemporary issues, with contributions from Ayesha Verrall and Shanan Halbert discussing health disparities, particularly around blood donation policies, and the importance of inclusive healthcare services. The dialogue further explores the impact of recent political changes on the LGBTQ+ community, stressing the importance of safeguarding gains made in rights and representation, and continuing to advocate for progress. Robertson's final remarks serve as a call to action for the community and its allies, stressing the critical need for safe environments in schools for LGBTQ+ youth, inclusivity in sports, and the broader societal acceptance and support of the LGBTQ+ community. The event encapsulates a moment of reflection, celebration, and forward-looking determination, echoing the community's resilience and the imperative of unity in the face of adversity. The full transcription of the recording begins:  Greetings everybody. Um, thank you for this. Uh, thank you, Karen. Um, my. favourite New Zealand comedian, who's here today. Um, so, um, it's, it's a great opportunity. Who's here today? No, you're just supposed to hear the first bit. Um, it's a great opportunity, and I want to thank the organisers of, uh, Out in the City for inviting me to come along and speak at the opening, uh, piece of this bit on the main stage. I think the reason they invited me is, and I acknowledge, um, Hamish Allardyce in the room when I say this, that I'm now officially an old queen. And so, um, they And so, uh I am, uh, this will be the last out in the city I'm at for a while because I'm going to be moving down to Dunedin and so, uh, thank you to the organisers for giving me the opportunity to, to come along. I just want to do two things, uh, in the time that we've got. One of those, as I think is always really important, uh, on occasions like this is to look back to our past and understand the whakapapa of this event. Uh, and shortly I'm going to invite two amazing people up on the stage, um, who, uh, are doyens of the rainbow community in Wellington and were part of the beginnings of this. And then after we, uh, do that, uh, we'll also then just spend a few minutes, uh, talking Maybe getting just a tiny bit more serious about some issues that the rainbow community is facing and how we're going to be dealing with those. Uh, I do want to acknowledge that in the room I've got a number of my parliamentary colleagues who are sitting down in the front row. I've got uh, Dr. I. Shaviro, Ginny Anderson, Barbara Edmonds and Shannon Helbert, who are all our Rainbow Labour MPs, um, who've come along today, or Labour MPs who've come along today. Um, don't want to out you there Ginny. Uh, so yeah, um, thanks for coming and supporting us. So, as I said, I want to now invite up onto the stage, um, my friends, and two, um, of my favourite gays, um, John Jolliffe and Des Smith. So, John and Des, do you want to start making your way up here? For anyone who doesn't know, and you're about to find out all about it now, Des and John began what was then called the Gay and Lesbian Fair 38 years ago. Woo! Come along team. You guys, here. Uh, 38 years ago, um, and that was, um, the fair, it was, Des will tell me and correct me, please have a seat. Des will, um, correct me, I'm sure, but it was called, The first fear in 1986 was called a fear for a fear law. That's right. So for anyone who doesn't know, 1986 was the year that the Homosexual Law Reform Act was passed. Finally decriminalising homosexual activity. And in the face of a pretty full on, uh, Opposition, which we'll talk about in a second. Des and John and others, um, started, um, what was an incredibly courageous act at the time to have a fair that was out, outwardly saying that it was the gay and lesbian fair. And that fair stayed at Newtown School for, um, And then became out in the square, which became out in the park, which became out in the city. So that's the whakapapa of the event. And so, we'll hand that over to you guys. Um, Des, perhaps start with you. Uh, The organization of the first fair, you know, we've said it was about the law, but what was in your head when you were pulling it together? Okay, it was the first gay, in 1986, before, uh, homosexual law reform was passed, we had a meeting of the gay task force. And the idea was to have a fair. Okay, three of us were elected to organize it, and, uh, the other two wanted to have it, It's an Andrews and then I said, no, no church. So, okay, uh, we thought, right, a school. Yeah. Neutral ground. Okay. So it was new town school. Good suburb to have it in. And it worked well. And I have to even mention now a woman called Elaine Lethbridge. She was our one that battled our right to have the hall. But anyway, the first fair was a great success. And, uh, but we did have the bigots, yeah, the guys they called the t shirt boys came along. So these were the, these were people who were against homosexual law reform? They were, and what they had is these muscle boys, and they had these t shirts on, with, uh, gay plus gay equals AIDS on the front, and on the back, stop homosexual law reform. They arrived at the gate, and I thought, oh, God, Better not say the word, but anyway. Insert word, yep. Anyway, so how do I deal with this? And they, they were going to be threatening. Anyway, the Amazon Softball Club were practicing in the school grounds. So I called them over, and they came over with their bats on me. And they stood around them. And, uh, My God, did those guys bugger off. It's always been a partnership between the gays and lesbians, hasn't it? I did call the cops and, uh, one of the, one of the guys, I can't remember his name, but he ended up, he had, he was a gay cop, but he told me that one of the cops they did send was a fundamentalist Christian and, uh, that was a worry. Anyway, we dealt with that. The fair was a great success. And then the next one, um, I met John, and he helped with the entertainment. And I tell you what, we had some great entertainment at those fairs. You certainly did. Can we, we just need to back the truck up a tiny bit here Des, because you started another group, which was called, well you didn't start the group, but you started the Wellington chapter of another group called H. U. G. What did H. U. G. stand for Des? Heterosexuals Unafraid of Gays. So why would you have been forming a group called HUC? No, this was early, this was 19, going back to 1985. That was interesting. I was working for a woman actually, helping with a nutrition of a health. And, um, I listened to Paul Holmes on Talkback. And it was interesting because, what would happen is that, There's all this anti gay stuff coming over. So I got on the phone and put my two pence worth in, and um, Paul Holmes was very good, but his, um, producer said to me, give me your phone number and I'll ring you back. And she said to me, look, immediately you ring, The lines are all blocked with the people wanting to say anti. She said, we'll ring you at 10, uh, about quarter to 12. You say, put your word in. And then that doesn't give them much time, does it? Because they close down at 12. So I would ring, ring up and I would say, quite a, you know, really good things about why homosexual law reform should go through. Okay. And that was great. So, Paul Holmes was, uh, a great person to, um, uh, to help with this. And I, I would like to say at this point, too, another group that came out, and with the problems in the world, and with the whole Hamas thing in Israel, but a group of young Jewish people, they were not gay, they actually came and approached me if they could. Help out and they raise money because they knew about the holocaust and how we'd be affected by the holocaust like they were and they raised money and put up posters and really helped out and when I hear anti semitism it just really gets up my nose and this is something that a lot of people don't know about and so that's just another thing that happened but anyway, um, Hug was, Wellington was the biggest growing organization of anywhere in New Zealand. And I was in the middle of it and I thought, hold on, I can't be here. Because it will come as a shock to all of you that people might've thought that there's could have been in the hack. Um, but would you like to give the microphone to John just for a moment? Des. So, so John, I'm getting a feeling that you might've been reasonably significant in, um, um, assisting these two. Move from hug to hugging other things. Well, it became very important when we met. Is that right? And, um, We met and it really was a magic moment which I can remember very, very well. We were both volunteers with the AIDS Foundation at the time. And the person who was running the clinic had a housewarming party. And, uh, And, uh, We went and we met and we've been together ever since and we've been talking, what, as long as the fair's been going, really, 38, 38 years. 38 years these two. It's, it's all gone very quickly but it's been rather exciting to be involved in things like the civil union and that to me was a highlight of my, uh, being political as a gay man, as an old queen and, and, um, It's um, really wonderful to look back and see how far we have come. But I do feel at the moment that I have to remember the words of Fran Wild during the law reform campaign. There are two Vs. Visibility and vigilance, and both are very important right now. Absolutely. We can see what's happening in the world with uh, repression and uh, We don't want anything eroded in our rights. So, it's been a fight worth doing. Let's skip forward a little bit too. So, obviously the fear was a huge thing and a massive part of your life. But as you mentioned, you, I think I'm right, you were the first couple to be civil unioned, is that right? We're told we are, our certificate is NZCU number one, so. Well that's, that's impressive. Um, that campaign, um, was, I think sometimes people forget just how difficult the civil union campaign was because the evangelical Christian movement was kind of, At its peak, and Brian Tamaki came down to Wellington and there was about 5, 000 people, I think, on that Enough is Enough rally. Um, any memories for either of you from that Civil Union campaign? Well, I think the Brian Tamaki one was, to me, horrifying, because they had eight year old kids marching through the streets saying, Enough is Enough. The kids didn't know what they were doing, so they sort of Poisoning the minds of young people, and I think that's horrifying. But, um, what was important, I think, is that by and large, I find that Kiwis don't like that sort of extremism. And in fact, they probably dug a hole in their own policies and approach. They were not appreciated by very many people. I think that's right. I think he's might have Select committee. Till then what? Oh dear. Okay. If I may. Please. Right. Okay. Select committee on the marriage equality bill. There was a certain member of parliament, who perhaps should be nameless, um, who we were talking about, you know, we needed marriage equality. And the lovely Ruth Dyson was cheering. And this man said to us, um, If the bill goes through, who will be the wife? And who will be the husband? Uh, I wasn't very quick. I just promptly said, Well, you know, the marriage legislation doesn't include gender, but Dez was much quicker and wiser than I am, and he said, well, we don't actually role play, but, uh, John does most of the cooking. Yeah. And, and, and marriage equality was, was the next stage after, um, after, uh, civil unions. And again, you guys were, were there. Have you, have you, um, Changed from civil union to marriage. Oh, yes. Where did you do that? 10 years exactly to the hour after our civil union. And the first civil union was a big affair. Town hall, because we knew Kelly Prendergast personally. She said she would, uh, we only had to pay for security guards. And then we had the boat shared with the reception with a big parade with I don't know how many hundred people. And, um, But then 10 years to the date, we had this wonderful at Zelandia and it was really good. And, uh, Amanda, Amanda La, we have to still thank again, because she did a wonderful drag queen. And I still remember she did about 10 different performances. And so it was a wonderful affair, but what the staff told me. They said, your wedding was great, and everybody was so happy. She, for hetros, when they get married, someone always has a scrap. So I thought that was good. And for those who don't know, um, Des and John, but Des in particular, have been long standing supporters of Zalandia. And I think you, do you still host tours? No, I, I still do a tour once a week, and last week I had, um, um, 14 on a tour. Generally it's a maximum of 12. But I heard someone at the desk say, oh, Des will take another tour. He's got a big enough voice. . So , that is true. And, but uh, the tours I do, um, it's the light with em is the people I meet. 'cause the $60 each, they pay. So, I mean, I don't get anything except a free cup of coffee, but the thing is that, um, these people would not pay that much if I didn't have an interest in the environment. And this is what I really enjoy. I meet some absolutely fabulous people and have had an invite. So Chateau in France, uh, the gardens of the Bay in Singapore gave me a card to have a wonderful tour. And that was really good. John just asked when they were going to the Chateau in France. I haven't seen that. Look, just before we finish up, I wanted to give both of you perhaps the opportunity to say something for the future. And current activists in the rainbow community. What, what do you think of the, the, what's the big lesson for you and what's your hope for that? John, you've already mentioned, you know, some of your concerns perhaps about what's happening right now. But perhaps just give each of you the chance to say something to the next generation. Yeah, what I say again is vigilance and visibility. And something like this Pride Week is very important. And the visibility. We are at a very precarious state in the whole world and when you think of what's happening overseas and I think we have to be very vigilant and very visible and, uh, hopefully that from that we will not have that sort of persecution which has happened in the past and then we've got to look at, um, the whole Te the whole Māori perspective much better than, um, The British. Your turn, John. I think, really, is persistence. Persistence in the face of opposition. Persistence in the face of ignorance. And we face a lot of ignorance, particularly relating to the trans community. MyCap has got Flux on it. It's an organization that supports and promotes understanding. Of trans people. And I think it's a wonderful organization. Functionally, it's in America. It's not here yet. But we need to look at all the aspects of gender diversity and non binary people. And we need to persist and we need to be brave. And I think all the way through this, it's important that we don't become snide, we don't become smart arsed, it's important. We need a sense of humor. We need to expose the opposition to ridicule. It's the best way to win. Ladies and gentlemen, John Jolliffe and Des Smith. Um, as um, uh, Des and John just, just go down the stairs, it is just worth noting the extraordinary contribution that they have made over these last four decades to Wellington in general. Um, just before Des and I were talking about, you know, his interest in environment and conservation. Um, so they've got interests well beyond the rainbow community, but what they have done. for our community over these years is extraordinary and when you walk around a fair like this or any of the events in Pride Week, just remember that the courage and the bravery that it took 38 years ago to stand up and organize that fair. So thanks again, uh, Des and John. In just the remaining time we've got, and I know Shannon has to jump off to go to Christchurch Pride, which is taking place today, I'll just get um, Aisha and Shannon to Pop up on the stage very quickly if they can, please. Um, so, um, Dr I should be real. Uh, well known to many of you is a covert, uh, expert and person who came into our cabinet in 2020 to help us with our response to covert. Um, and an MP based here in Wellington and Shannon Helbert, who's formerly the MP for Northcote and one of our Auckland based MPs now. Um, so I invite them both to And I thought, just in this last bit, what we would do is have a chat around contemporary issues, and, um, John and Des have both, um, discussed those. Um, John mentioned in particular, um, support for our trans community. Um, this is, uh, I think probably the, one of the biggest issues that's facing the rainbow communities at the moment is, um, What I would describe as the othering of trans people. And, um, when I was the Minister of Sport, I saw this a lot, where people were fighting this imagined enemy, um, in terms of the trans community. And, um, the words and the phrases were, Horribly familiar because they were the same words and phrases that had been thrown about against lesbian and gay and other members of the rainbow community previously. And so there's a huge amount of work to do in that space, John, and I really thank you for mentioning it today. So, um, we'll start with you, Osha, um, perhaps just any of the big issues that you think we need to be working on at the moment. Yeah, I think, um, we need to make sure that our, our services that, um, are important to all members of our community are appropriately inclusive. And one area where that is not, um, the case is, I think, the, uh, rules around blood donation in, in New Zealand. Um, now I have, uh, um, I, I see that as an issue that was previously, you know, Um, uh, more complicated than it is now. Many countries have made the shift to being able to, uh, not discriminate against gay men when they give blood on the basis of them being gay. And to be able to make a more health based assessment of who should be able to donate blood. That's the case in Canada. It's the case, I think, in the United Kingdom as well. And we should be able to make that change. I think it's important because blood donation is quite a unique thing we do as a community. It's actually giving a gift that, you know, there's no amount of, um, other way for the state to organize blood other than people volunteering and giving their time. And I think, uh, when you haven't got a strong basis for saying some people can't give that gift, it's actually a terrible message that we're sending to people. So I think that's an important thing for us to, uh, sort out and would be the main thing we're doing. Among a number of, um, things that we set up in the reformed health system to make sure that services were responsive, including that Te Whātua Ora, we required Te Whātua Ora to have a, um, Uh, now called Health New Zealand to have a, um, uh, forum for hearing voices from the Rainbow community. So, um, hearing those key words around vigilance, that's what, as the opposition spokesperson, I'm looking out for is to see progress on those areas. Thanks, Jen. Um, Grant, can I just start off by acknowledging you, um, and your leadership, particularly for our rainbow community in the parliamentary space and here in, um, Te Whanganui a tara. You will be very missed, of course, um, both in parliament, but also by the community. And, you know, we, we take on our shoulders the lega you're part of your legacy moving forward to do better for our rainbow community. I've been doing a little bit of a hikoi myself across Pride events, um, across Aotearoa, and Christchurch today is another opportunity, really, where I've been listening and hearing the voices of our rainbow takatapui community. And last week at Pride March, um, you know, very strong voices came through around te no rangatiratanga, um, and the word sovereignty has really stood out for me as I've travelled the country over pride, whether that be our health sovereignty and what we saw with Smokefree and um, the disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority, whether that be uh, through the Treaty Principles Bill, whether that be through um, the guidelines or New Zealand First wanting to take away the guidelines that we put in place in sexuality education in our, in our kura and in our schools. Those are things that, um, put in place the protection of our tamariki and rangatahi to be who they are. Um, you know, as takatāpui, as Māori, um, as them, and an opportunity to support, um, both their whānau, their parents, and people teaching in, in that. So, what's top of mind for me really is, is over the next couple of years, how do we protect the things that we've put in place? That's the progress that. community have made, um, and then continue to push forward, um, because while we have a number of issues live at the moment that we want to progress, you know, we've got some real risks to our community, to our sovereignty, and actually to our rainbow voice when we look, um, you know, as a part of this government. Our representation in Parliament is shrinking, um, this time round, and, you know, uh, luckily, uh, we will replace a Grant Robertson with a Glenn Bennett to ensure that our team is there. We do one gay out, one gay in, in Labour, just to see. It's like a club. Yeah. Um, but we've got to work really, really hard and ensure that our rainbow community is seeing our voices in Parliament on the issues that are, that matter to them, not just the issues that matter to us. Shan, do you want to say a little bit more about, um, where things might be at for Takatāpui and Māori? Because I think that, um, again, raised by, by John and Des as well, um, where do you see things at the moment and any particular actions or activities that you think we need to be involved in as a rainbow community, um, supporting Takatāpui? Yeah, but what's important is that we lift up our Takatāpui voice. on these types of issues and give a, a, a rainbow perspective on, um, Toitū Te Tiriti, on how we view, um, parts of this government. One of the things I was concerned about this week as we saw at Fryberg High School, of course, the group of rangatahi do the haka to David Seymour, you know, and, um, and then they got disciplined by their school. And the question out there for us is what were they being disciplined for? I'm not a fan of spitting, I'm not a fan of swearing, um, but our young people were hurt by his actions. And so when our community goes out and our voice is louder, you know, we will expect that these people will try and discipline us, shut us down, minimize what we're saying. Um, but when we, you know, when we come together, and this is the challenge for our community, Is we've got to walk side by side in solidarity and play a far more strategic game to get better outcomes for our rainbow community and that's, that's all of our challenge. Aisha, I just wanted perhaps to pop back to you for just a second around a couple of health issues, but one in particular, which has been an issue that we took on in government but didn't finish, and that's the work around access to health services for the trans community. Just your thoughts on where we might need to go next in that. Again, it's another one of those safeguarding what we did in terms of access to gender affirmation surgery, but also access to other health services. Got any further thoughts on that? Firstly, um, I entered the Rainbow Health portfolio with, um, the thing that hardly ever happens, which is funding. Um, so thank you Grant for I don't know who the finance minister was, I can't think how that would have happened. So there was funding, um, for that, uh, gender affirming. surgery. I think like many of our surgical services that that service, uh, struggled with the challenges of COVID because it is small, but we gave it a, a good, um, uh, spruce up addressed its, uh, wait list. And I think it is in the position to be able to go forward more, more sustainably. Uh, though, if anyone in the audience is considering a training in that area, we also need to have a. Local supply of specialists for the longer term as well that but I think the big issue. Um is how do we go from? where we are now with trans health care, which is, um, it shouldn't be all about surgery. It should be that when you go to the health service you use most often, which for most people is their general practitioner or someone else in primary care, that you are always understood. And if the person doesn't know, um, immediately all of the issues you're putting on the table, there is a place for you to go and that referral happens smoothly. The way we started with that was to fund eight, uh, gender affirming care clinics around, uh, around the country and the rollout of that is in, uh, is in process. Um, so that in, Different parts of the country, you'll be able to access that care. Now. I think the That is something that of course we have to watch and in the current current funding environment in the health system with the current priorities that this government has but also With the threats there are to gender affirming care coming as part of this sort of right wing culture wars from across the world, and there's been some recent developments in that, but I see that is actually the tougher change, is making sure that the thousands of primary care practitioners are competent. So, I've had conversations with, um, the, all of the medical colleges and nursing colleges about this, but it is, this is a 10, 15 year project to get our, our people, um, to the level of competency required. Thanks, Aisha, and I just, you know, want to say as I'm walking out the door of politics that, um, having, um, the likes of Aisha and Shannon and, and others, you know, there are others in, in other political parties too, um, Ricardo and the Greens and others who are, are really stepping up to show leadership in this and I feel really confident, um, in the fact that Shannon and our other Rainbow Caucus members are here because, as you can hear, there's so much knowledge and understanding here, and as a community, we need elected representatives who will stand up for our communities. We're a bit thin on the ground on the other side of politics at the moment in that regard, but we keep pushing across the Parliament and across parties to move forward. Since I've got the mic and we've got a couple of minutes left, I'll just throw in my two cents worth on that. The issues that I see coming up and one that has never gone away for me is making sure that our schools are safe environments. For young people, and that applies to absolutely everybody in our schools, but especially to members of the rainbow community It's a long time ago since I was one of those people but a lot has not changed about the stresses and the strains and the Uncertainties and the need for support, and I still think there's more we can do in our schools and our kura to make sure that That people are supported and affirmed and to make sure that the staff. Uh, So, They are supported to do their work as well. And I think that's a real story of vigilance. Um, we made some changes the last time we were in government around, making sure that the Education Review Office had to look at what school's practices, we're in knowledge. Chris Carter, who was the minister at the time who did The work to make that happen. But I'm still convinced can make the lives of young Rainbow community members better and more supported if we do that. The other area I wanted to mention is in the sport area, so I was the Minister of Sport and Recreation. No secret, it was probably my favourite portfolio, um, ahead of the finance one. Uh, and in it, um, we worked really hard to make sure that sport was more inclusive. A lot of rainbow community members have terrible experiences of sport. And that is so wrong. Um, many, many years ago I got to play in the Crazy Knights, New Zealand's first gay rugby team, and one of the things that struck me about that was that I'd played rugby, look at me, it was obvious, um, for a long time, but 90 percent of the team had never played before, and about 50 percent of them We're playing to exorcise some demons to get rid of some of the things that had happened to them as they had been growing up and the camaraderie that we developed in that team was just extraordinary and Dez mentioned the Amazon softball team, which has been around for a very very long time as well. The the thing about sport is It's one of the ways, and it's not the only way, arts and music and others do this in our community as well. But it brings communities together and brings people from very different walks of life together. And so I've always worked really hard to make sure that the way we support and fund sport does that. And one of the things we did when I was minister was that we put in place a set of guidelines around trans and non binary people and sport. And these weren't rules, they were literally just guidelines to support sporting clubs and organisations to offer an inclusive environment. And they were really, really welcomed by the sports because a lot of really well meaning people weren't sure what, how, how they could work with people who wanted to play their sport or join their club um, who were from our trans community. And in a really, really tragic and silly thing, in the coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First, they've got a line in it about defunding organisations who effectively create a safe space for trans people who want to join. It's terrible. It's one of the most insidious things because, as I said before, it's fighting this imagined enemy, which doesn't exist. Um, when it's up at the international level, we don't make the rules about that. Our government should never make the rules about that. That's up to the International Swimming Federation or the International Rugby Union or whatever. But at a community level, that's where we get to do it. Because all it is, is about giving people a chance to participate. and be a part of their community. And so that's one issue, team, as I leave, that we need to make sure doesn't go anywhere. I suspect New Zealand first got it in and the National Party kind of almost didn't really realise what it was. And so we need to make sure that that does not go anywhere. Because that ability to participate and be part of the community in the sports and recreation space is so important. Um, because it does give people those connections that we really need. But enough reckons from an old man who's, um, um, walking out the door. I just want to say thank you again, um, to Osha and Shannon. Um, and especially to, um, Dez and John. Um, and, you know, Understanding our history, understanding where we come from, but also appreciating the challenges and opportunities that are in the future is massively important. And out in the city and events like this are a great way to be able to express who we are as a community. And I thank you again for the opportunity to be here. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. 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 ; 2020s ; Amanduh la Whore ; Amazons Softball Club (Wellington) ; Aotearoa New Zealand ; Auckland ; Ayesha Verrall ; Barbara Edmonds ; Brian Tamaki ; Canada ; Chris Carter ; Christchurch ; Civil Union Act (2004) ; Coming Up ; David ; David Seymour ; Des Smith ; Drag Queen ; Dunedin ; Education Review Office (ERO) ; Elaine Lethbridge ; Enough is Enough (2004, Destiny Church rally) ; Events ; Fran Wilde ; France ; Gay Task Force ; Gender Flux (USA) ; Glen Bennett ; God ; Grant Robertson ; Heterosexuals Unafraid of Gays (HUG) ; Homosexual Law Reform ; Israel ; Jewish community ; John Jolliff ; Kerry Prendergast ; Krazy Knights (Wellington rugby team) ; Lesbian and Gay Fair ; Marriage Amendment Act (2012) ; Marriage Equality ; Member of Parliament ; Michael Fowler Centre ; National Party ; New Zealand First ; Newtown ; Newtown School ; Out in the City (Wellington) ; Out in the Park (Wellington) ; Out in the Square (Wellington) ; Paul Holmes ; People ; Ricardo Menendez March ; Ruth Dyson ; Shanan Halbert ; Singapore ; Space ; St Andrew's on the Terrace ; Stuff ; Tamaki ; Te Whatu Ora Health (public health) ; The Boatshed ; The Holocaust ; Tino Rangatiratanga ; Tiriti o Waitangi / Treaty of Waitangi ; United Kingdom ; Wellington ; Wellington Gay Task Force ; Wellington Pride Festival (2024) ; Whanganui ; Zealandia ; access ; actions ; activism ; activities ; affirmation ; anti-Semitism ; arts ; audience ; binary ; blood ; blood donation ; boat ; bravery ; change ; church ; civil unions ; clubs ; coffee ; community ; connections ; conservation ; cooking ; courage ; culture ; culture wars ; diversity ; donation ; drag ; education ; entertainment ; environment ; equality ; face ; fear ; forum ; friends ; funding ; future ; gay ; gay+gay=aids ; gender ; gender affirming health care clinic ; gender affirming healthcare ; gender diversity ; gender-affirming surgery ; government ; growing up ; haka ; health ; health care ; health funding ; health rights ; health system ; history ; homosexual ; homosexual law reform ; hope ; hug ; inclusion ; inclusive guidelines in sport ; knowledge ; kura ; ladies ; law ; leadership ; legacy ; legislation ; lesbian ; listening ; magic ; march ; marriage ; marriage equality ; movement ; music ; nursing ; opportunity ; other ; othering ; parade ; parents ; parties ; partnership ; persecution ; persistence ; poisoning ; police ; politics ; posters ; priorities ; protection ; queen ; radio ; rainbow ; rally ; rangatahi ; rangatiratanga ; representation ; repression ; review ; rugby ; running ; safe space ; school ; seat ; secret ; security ; select committee ; sexuality ; softball ; solidarity ; sovereignty ; sport ; success ; support ; surgery ; swimming ; t-shirt boys ; t-shirts ; takatāpui ; talk back ; teaching ; the other side ; threats ; time ; top ; training ; trans ; transphobia ; treaty ; understanding ; unions ; vigilance ; visibility ; voice ; walking ; wedding ; whakapapa ; work. The original recording can be heard at this website https://www.pridenz.com/grant_robertson_and_co.html. The master recording is also archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand.  For more details visit their website https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.1107388. Please note that this document may contain errors or omissions - you should always refer back to the original recording to confirm content.