As part of the exhibition Poutokomanawa: The Carmen Rupe Generation, community members came together to recount stories of people, places and events in Wellington in the 1960s and 1970s. A special thank you to the organisers and speakers for allowing this event to be recorded and shared. This storytelling event also marked the 800th audio recording for PrideNZ.com
Summary
The abstract summarizes a storytelling event held on October 19, 2019, at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery in Wellington, which was part of the Poutokomanawa: The Carmen Rupe Generation exhibition. The event celebrated the legacy of Carmen Rupe and the transgender community in Wellington during the 1960s and 1970s. The recording features community members including Chanel Hati, Georgina Beyer, Kay'la Riarn, and Malcolm Kennedy-Vaughan, sharing anecdotes and memories about their experiences during an era when transgender individuals, cross-dressing, and gay identities were not widely accepted.
The speakers recounted their life stories, touching on topics such as the importance of music, the nightlife scene, the legal challenges faced by the transgender community, and the discrimination and societal pressures they endured. They also reminisced about the cultural shift from the 1950s to the 2010s and highlighted how the gay community's outcomes have improved progressively thanks to the groundbreaking actions and resilience of figures like Carmen Rupe.
Anecdotes presented during the event painted a vivid picture of the struggles and camaraderie within the community in an era characterized by both prejudice and the quest for freedom. These personal accounts provided insights into working as entertainers in nightclubs, the bonds formed within the community, and the influential role of Carmen Rupe as a pioneering and supportive figure. Through the personal stories shared, the speakers conveyed the evolution of acceptance and rights for the LGBTQ+ community, culminating in significant legislative changes such as the Prostitution Reform Act and the Marriage Amendment Act that have contributed to the increased acceptance and recognition of transgender and gay individuals in New Zealand society.
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.
Tags
10 o'clock closing, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 2010s, african room (carmen's international coffee lounge), alcohol, alcohol laws, alcohol license, alfies 1, alfies 2, aotearoa new zealand, arrest, arthur baysting, arthur porritt, attitude, attitudinal change, auckland, australia, barry crump, basin reserve, bellamys, big teds, bisexual flag, bistro bar, bloomers review (alfies), bojangles, boy george, breasts, buckwheat, busted, carmen miranda, carmen rupe, carmen's curio shop (second location), carmen's international coffee lounge, carol de winter, carterton, casper's bar and cafe, chanel hati, chrissy witoko, civil union act (2004), civil unions, closet, club exotic, club exotique, coffin, colin moyle, courts, criminal records (expungement of convictions for historical homosexual offences) act 2018, cuba street, david lange, destiny church, discrimination, dorian society, drag, drugs, dyslexia, egyptian room (carmen's international coffee lounge), egyptian tearooms, elizabeth kerekere, evergreen coffee house, exotic dancer, expungement, family, felonious intent, female impersonation, flags, flesh (auckland), from the hutt valley to hawaii (documentary), fur coat, gary glitter, gay, gender reassignment surgery, georgina beyer, ghetto blaster, golden stiletto awards (auckland), gypsy (wellington), hawking, hedy lamarr, helen clark, helmet, homosexual law reform, human rights act (1993), identity documents, ilga world, ilga world conference (2019), intersex flag, jacquie grant, kapa haka, karangahape road, kay'la riarn, kelly ellis, legacy, lesbian, lola (wellington), loreena (wellington), lou reed, lv martin and sons, mae west, malcolm kennedy-vaughan, manaakitanga, marion street, marriage amendment act (2012), marriage equality, massey university, mayor, media, member of parliament, michael fowler, milk treatment station (wellington), mr asia drug syndicate, new zealand portrait gallery, niccole duval, night porter, nz truth, oaks coffee shop, paper lantern, parliament buildings, paul fitzharris, phyliss munro, playgirls (revue), plucked, police, pose (tv series), poutokomanawa: the carmen rupe generation (exhibition, 2019), privileges committee, prostitution reform act (2003), rainbow crossing, rainbow flag, rainbow room, rangi carroll, red mole (performance group), relationships (statutory references) act 2005, rion mckenzie, robert jones, robert muldoon, rogue and vagabond, roller, roy stacey, royal oak hotel, safe house, safe space, salvation army citadel, scum, sex work, singing, slap, snake dancing, staircase nightclub, stigma, sunset strip, sydney, taumarunui, tavern bar (royal oak hotel), the balcony / le balcon, the boatshed, the rocky horror picture show, tim barnett, toasted sandwich, traffic light, trans, trans visibility, trans-exclusionary radical feminism (terf), transgender, transgender flag, trevor morley, unspring, velvet painting, victoria street, visibility, vivian street, wally martin, wayne mapp, wellington, wig, willis street, women's movement, yvette kennedy
Tags (computer generated)
acceptance, affirmation, africa, animals, archives, army, artist, asian, awards, barriers, bars, beauty, bigotry, billboards, binary, birth certificate, birthday, board, boarding house, boat, bottom, boxes, brian tamaki, broken, building, bulls, button, canada, capital, career, cbs, change, chef, children, chinese, chocolate, christmas, church, clay, clubs, coffee, coffee bar, coming out, coming up, community, concerts, conference, conflict, conservative, conundrum, costumes, courage, cricket, crime, cuba, dance, dancing, depression, division, documentary, drag queen, elders, empowerment, entertainment, equality, europe, exhibition, face, fear, fire, food, france, freedom, french, friends, fun, future, gallery, gambling, gender, gender fluid, geneva, gloves, god, government, grave, hair, harassment, hate, hawaii, hell, heroin, history, hit, hollywood, homosexual, homosexual law reform, hope, horse, hotel, housing, human rights, island bay, job, justice, ladies, law, lawyer, legislation, lgbt, liberation, liberty, library, lifestyle, local government, loss, love, makeup, marriage, marriage equality, masculine, meetings, mirror, mistress, mock, monitor, movies, music, muslims, nature, nightclub, normal, opera, other, outreach, pacific, passport, people, piano, pirate, planes, politics, pool, power, prejudice, privilege, profile, queen, race, rainbow, recognition, regrets, rejection, relationships, respect, review, roast, routine, rugby, running, sad, salvation army, san francisco, scene, school, security, select committee, shame, shoes, shooting, shopping, smile, social, soul, space, spaces, speech, stole, storytelling, straight, strength, stress, struggle, stuff, support, surgery, tamaki, tax, technology, testing, texas, thailand, the opera house, the other side, ties, time, top, touch, tradition, training, trans man, trans woman, transvestite, travel, treat, trick, trust, truth, underwear, unions, university, voice, water, wind, wine, witness, women, work, yoga