Category: Opinion

Jul 22
Gender and Culture: Tā Moko

Patrick Salmon is a Māori man, a husband, and a father of three. He is also making waves and unsettling gender norms after appearing on the media with a historically female-specific tā moko. Like many other cultures around the world, Māori culture has historically been closely tied in with gender. Tā moko, the permanent body and […]

Jul 11
The Queer Fight Lives On: HLR30 at Auckland Town Hall

Every queer and their dog was there at the HLR30 Celebration at the Auckland Town Hall. It was a strong crowd of ‘fabulosity’ as the MC had alluded to, but at what cost? Decorating our table was an array of rainbow coloured cupcakes (specifically the delectable banana cake interior) and a selection of Council-approved nibbles. […]

Jun 30
July: Ask Agony Uncle Eli

Rainbow Counsellor Elijah Luke Michel is here to help with your problems.   I am concerned about my brother. We are both gay, but he is meeting up with many different guys and having unprotected sex with them. He is only 17 so he is just being impulsive and not thinking things through. How can […]

Jun 28
Corrections in Transition

Commit the crime, do the time – it’s a given! But what about transgender people in our prison systems who continue to pay the lifetime price of invalidation? It is enough to be incarcerated, but to be held within a premises intended for a gender you don’t fit is punishment additional and unfair. Elijah Michel […]

Jun 02
June: Ask Agony Uncle Eli

Rainbow Counsellor Elijah Luke Michel is here to help with your problems. I’m finding things tough at the moment. I am 18 years old and have just come out as lesbian to my parents. My dad doesn’t seem too worried, but my mum has retreated into her room and I often hear her crying. I […]

May 30
Thinking Broader Than Our Border

Stephen Rainbow responds to last month’s opinion piece by asking the question: When did the battle for gay rights begin and end with what was achieved in New Zealand? Marking thirty years of Homosexual Law Reform will be an occasion for much reflection, as mentioned in express editor Amy Jane Bedwell’s opinion piece “Never Forget […]

May 24
Why Must Millennials Quantify Their Sexuality?

I have a friend who is mostly, but not quite straight. Tom,* until recently, had a long-term girlfriend, yet describes his sexuality as “fluid.” He goes so far as to articulate his romantic preferences as “70:30”: 70 percent straight and 30 percent gay. To the millennial generation, where deviations from heterosexuality are widely accepted, a […]

May 17
RHPS Remake: Rocky Horror or Rocky Horrible?

Fox have released the first teaser trailer to the anticipated remake of queer, cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Needless to say, it looks as camp as ever. The question which really stands is whether such a classic can be successfully remade? After all, the original was a box office failure until unconventional conventionalists […]