Historian Gareth Watkins highlights October dates as significant for our queer communities.
6 October 1874
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of poet and social worker Ursula Bethell. While she was born in England, Bethell’s parents had previously lived in New Zealand, and by the early 1880s, the family had returned here and settled in Rangiora. In her late teens, Bethell became involved in social work among working-class boys, and later with other community organisations including the Church of England Central Society for Providing Homes for Waifs and Strays. In 1905 she met Effie Pollen. As Bethell would later write, “From her I have had love, tenderness and understanding for 30 years, a close and happy companionship.” In 1924, the couple set up a home together at Rise Cottage in Canterbury, where Bethell began writing poetry which documented their garden and life together.
30 October 1971
Grant Robertson, New Zealand’s first openly gay Deputy Prime Minister, was born in Palmerston North. From an early age, Robertson took an interest in politics, “My mother in particular was quite a political person and we talked about political issues at home. So, the Springbok tour or the anti-nuclear movement or whatever it was, was the subject of discussion.” In the 1990s, Robertson went on to have a leadership role with the New Zealand University Students’ Association before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was first elected to Parliament in 2008 and quickly rose up the ranks. In 2017 he became the Minister for Finance, and in 2020 the Deputy Prime Minister. In an interview from earlier this year, he reflected, “If I think about my lifetime and the extraordinary progress that’s being made – blood, sweat, tears – everything that went into it. You’ve got to be hopeful that we can keep doing that. And we can keep making progress and keep nudging forward and keep doing the right things that allow our communities to all thrive. And so, I’m hopeful. And that’s my main message – keep hope alive. Keep thinking about what you can do. The struggle is as important as the success.”
10 October 2014
Art historian and academic Jonathan Mane-Wheoki died in Auckland, aged 70. His first art teacher in the 1950s was the acclaimed Colin McCahon. He went on to study at the University of Canterbury and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. He became the director of art and collection services at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in 2004 and then became the head of Elam School of Fine Arts in 2009. Commenting at the time of Mane-Wheoki’s passing, Lara Strongman, senior curator at Christchurch Art Gallery said, “Jonathan acted as a mentor and matua to at least two generations of New Zealand art history graduates, many of whom now work as art gallery directors, curators, academics and educators in New Zealand and internationally.” Geremy Hema, a colleague of Mane-Wheoki, told the media, “For gay Maori and gay Anglicans his mere presence provides much inspiration. He was respected, adored and revered by all in the Maori, academic, ecclesiastical, and creative circles in which he and his partner Paul existed.”
Photo | Former Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson aids community hero Bruce Kilmister in open the Wellington branch of Body Positive.
