Forty years after the passing of the Homosexual Law Reform Act, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum will open its archives for an evening of storytelling, taonga, music and performance reflecting on a crucial moment in Aotearoa New Zealand’s fight for equal rights.
LATE at the Museum | 1986: A Look Back at Homosexual Law Reform will take place on Wednesday 29 July, bringing together key figures involved in the campaign for reform, from Tāmaki Makaurau to the heart of Parliament. See: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/visit/whats-on/evenings/1986-a-look-back-at-homosexual-law-reform
On 9 July 1986, after 16 divisive months of nationwide protest and debate, the Homosexual Law Reform Act passed in Parliament, decriminalising consensual sexual activity between men. The Bill passed by a narrow margin, with 49 votes in support and 44 against.
Auckland Museum Manuscripts Curator Nina Finigan says the event will bring a significant moment in Aotearoa’s recent history into the room through archives, collection items and the voices of people who lived it.
“Museums are not only places for looking back; they are places where history that is still within living memory can be held, shared and understood through the people who experienced it,” says Finigan.
“Homosexual Law Reform is part of Aotearoa’s recent history, but it is also deeply personal history for many people. By bringing together archival material, collection objects and the voices of those who were there, this event allows us to reflect on what was won, what it took to get there, and the work that continued beyond 1986.”
Hosted by former MP and LGBTQIA+ rights advocate Louisa Wall, the evening will feature storytellers including Dame Fran Wilde, who introduced the Homosexual Law Reform Bill into Parliament in 1985, alongside Edward Cowley, Bruce Kilmister, Welby Ings and Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku, who were each part of the wider movement for change. The programme will also include live performances from GALS choir and drag artist Adena Delights to mark this significant anniversary.
Louisa Wall says the 40th anniversary of the Homosexual Law Reform Act marks a defining moment in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history.
“It was more than a change to the law; it affirmed the dignity, humanity and equal worth of people who had lived under the burden of criminalisation. This anniversary is an opportunity to recognise the courage and determination of everyone who campaigned for reform and to remember those whose lives were profoundly affected by the law.”
“As we commemorate this milestone, we celebrate the progress that has been made while recognising that the pursuit of equality and inclusion continues. By sharing these stories and preserving this history, we pay tribute to those who came before us and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring all LGBTQIA+ and takatāpui people can live with dignity, safety and belonging,” says Wall.
Stories will include critical fundraising hijinks that countered the deep pockets of the opposition, the nurturing of drag as a form of advocacy at the inner-city nightclub Staircase, and the battles that would continue to be fought in the years to come.
The evening will also feature mini-talks from Auckland Museum curators Nina Finigan and Jane Groufsky, who will share rarely seen collection items and archival material from the period connected to queer life and creative expression in Tāmaki Makaurau.
LATE at the Museum | 1986: A Look Back at Homosexual Law Reform
Wednesday 29 July
Doors open 6.30pm, Event starts 7.30pm
Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum
Adults $59
Concession $25 – Concession tickets are available for students, seniors, unwaged people and Community Services Card holders.
Bookings are essential.
About the speakers:
Edward Cowley, renowned drag artiste performing as Buckwheat, is a public health advocate and former member of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation. He worked at the legendary Staircase nightclub in the 1980s.
Welby Ings is a Professor of Narrative Design, educational reformer, author, designer, filmmaker and “disobedient thinker”. He was arrested several times during the 1980s Homosexual Law Reform protest movement.
Bruce Kilmister was a founding member of Auckland’s Gay Task Force chapter, Founding Trustee of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (now Burnett Foundation Aotearoa) and CEO of Body Positive for more than 20 years. Bruce played a key role in the organisation and fundraising effort for the 1986 Homosexual Law Reform movement here in Tāmaki.
Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Tūhoe, Ngāpuhi, Waikato) has fought for Māori, LGBTQI+ and women’s rights for five decades. In March 1972 she was refused a scholarship visa to the US as a ‘known sexual deviant’. That same week, the first gay activist group got together in Auckland. She describes herself as a Kuia/Queer.
Dame Fran Wilde introduced the Homosexual Law Reform Bill into Parliament in 1985 and worked tirelessly to see it through. Since then, she has been a Cabinet Minister, CEO and company director and is now Mayor of South Wairarapa.
Louisa Wall (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Waikato, Ngāti Hineuru) is Chair of the Tūwharetoa Iwi Māori Partnership Board, a former New Zealand MP, and Patron of Toitū Takatāpui. Her human rights leadership includes Marriage Equality, Safe Areas around abortion facilities, and reforms addressing image-based sexual abuse.
Nina Finigan is Manuscripts Curator, Documentary Heritage at Auckland Museum, and will speak on material from the Museum’s ephemera archive folder titled “Gay Liberation.”
Jane Groufsky is Auckland Museum’s Social History Curator, Human History, and will speak on the shoes and life of Doug George, as well as Garth Maxwell and Peter Wells’ filmic ode Naughty Little Peeptoe.