Tag: gareth watkins
Historian Gareth Watkins reflects on significant dates in Aotearoa New Zealand's history that had a unique impact on our queer communities.
19 October 1955
Activist and community icon Shelley Te Waiariki Howard was born in Hastings. For much of her life, Howard had tried to suppress her femininity. It wasn’t until...
Historian Gareth Watkins explores August dates that had a significant impact on Aotearoa’s LGBTQ+ communities.
4 August 1908
The Crimes Act 1908 was enacted. The legislation consolidated various laws, including one from 1893, which outlawed any form of sexual contact between males. Even if the sexual activity was consensual between adults,...
4 July 1975
The first major parliamentary attempt at homosexual law reform in New Zealand was defeated. National MP Venn Young had introduced the proposed legislation a year earlier. It aimed to decriminalise homosexual acts between consenting adults aged 21 and over. Just before the vote, Young told the House,...
Historian Gareth Watkins uncovers May dates in New Zealand’s past that have impacted today’s queer community in Aotearoa.
May 1983
2023 marks the 40th anniversary of the first International AIDS Candlelight Memorials which took place in San Francisco and New York City. In New Zealand, the memorial was first observed as...
Gareth Watkins fondly revisits Georgina Beyer’s reflections on the most significant moments in her professional career.
In 2013 I was privileged to record over five hours of audio interviews with Georgina about her life and career. In tribute to Georgina, here are some lightly edited quotations from those recordings.
Georgina was...
Historian Gareth Watkins uncovers dates in New Zealand’s past that have impacted today’s queer community in Aotearoa.
28 March 1903
Playwright and medical practitioner Merton Hodge was born on this day in Taruheru, Poverty Bay. Hodge studied at King’s College in Auckland and then Otago Medical School. He moved to England...
Historian Gareth Watkins unearths February dates from the past that have had a significant impact on today’s queer community.
6 February 1840
Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi was signed on this day. With it came New Zealand’s adoption of English law, including the Offences Against the Person Act, which made...
Historian Gareth Watkins unearths January dates from that past that have had a significant impact on today’s queer community.
8-9 January 1977
The first meeting of the National Gay Rights Coalition of NZ was held in Wellington. The diversity of activist and social rainbow groups had been growing since the early...
