The mother of Marriage Equality, Louisa Wall, pays homage to Sharon Aroha Hawke (13 April 1962 to 10 April 2026)
I stood beside Sharon Hawke on 23 February 2025 at Albert Park in Tāmaki Makaurau as the call went out across the city: Defying Destiny, a day of queer power. It was loud, young, and unapologetically Black, Brown, and every strand of our takatāpui whānau, carrying both anger and hope in equal measure.
When Sharon took the stage, the energy amplified. It deepened as Ngāti Whātua was there to tautoko.
Sharon stood not only as a leader of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Ngāti Mahuta, but as a proud takatāpui wahine. She embodied the truth that our identities are not separate from our whakapapa; they are part of it. She reminded us that tikanga Māori, in its truest form, makes space for the fullness of who we are. Rainbow people are not outside the culture. We are the culture.
In a time when religion is often used to justify exclusion, Sharon brought clarity that was both political and deeply personal. She understood the tensions many Māori navigate between whakapapa and Christianity but refused to let that tension excuse harm. When takatāpui are excluded, she said, it is not tikanga. It is colonisation.
That was Sharon. Unflinching. Grounded in truth. Fiercely loving.
Her life was shaped by resistance. As a young girl, she walked the 1975 Land March with Dame Whina Cooper, witnessing the power of collective Māori voice. Soon after, she stood with her whānau at Bastion Point during the 1978 occupation and eviction and was among those arrested. From an early age, she learned what it meant to hold the line when everything around you pushes back.
Alongside that political fire was an expansive capacity for love.
Sharon’s relationship with her partner, Lope Matalavea, was a powerful expression of aroha. Their marriage in November 2025 reflected pride, visibility, and courage. In a world that has often asked takatāpui to shrink, Sharon chose to live and love openly.
At the centre of her world was her whānau. Her daughter, Tu Te Kiha Penehira Hawke, and her mokopuna, Panitīnaku, were constant sources of pride and purpose. They were her grounding and her future, carried with her in every space she entered.
Sharon moved through many worlds with integrity. In the screen industry, she worked for over 16 years as a camera operator and producer, helping shape Māori storytelling and expanding who gets to be seen and heard on screen.
As Board Chair of Silo Theatre, she championed diverse voices and bold storytelling. In health and community spaces, she advocated for better outcomes for whānau, particularly wāhine Māori, and supported breast cancer awareness and early detection initiatives.
On the water, Sharon found another form of connection. A dedicated waka ama paddler for more than 35 years, she began with Ōkahu Bay Outrigger Canoe Club and represented Aotearoa at the 1990 World Sprint Championships. She often spoke of kaitiakitanga, the responsibility between people and Papatūānuku, and lived that principle through mentoring rangatahi, supporting tamariki, and giving her time generously.
Across all these spaces, her takatāpui identity remained central. She understood that the wellbeing of our communities depends on the wellbeing of all our people. She stood for equity, representation, and belonging without hesitation.
At Albert Park, speaking to a new generation, Sharon bridged worlds. She connected the legacy of land struggle to the ongoing fight for takatāpui and rainbow liberation. These were not separate struggles, she reminded us, but bound together through whenua, identity, survival, and love.
And always, through love.
Sharon Hawke was a force. A takatāpui trailblazer. A defender of whenua. A storyteller. A paddler. A partner. A mother. A grandmother. A wahine toa.
She stood her ground so others could stand in theirs. She loved openly so others could do the same.
Moe mai rā, e te māreikura, e te tuahine, e te wahine toa. Your legacy lives on in the whenua, in your whānau, and in the fierce, unapologetic love you shared.
Photo | Sharon Hawke pictured at a 2019 Auckland Philharmonia fundraiser with wife Lope.
Louisa Wall is a former Silver Fern (netball) and Black Ferns (rugby) international, politician, and advocate for equality, takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ rights, and social justice in Aotearoa, the Pacific, and globally.
