“When we asked for feedback from attendees and those in the rainbow community, they said they wanted a space for them to talk about ways to navigate systems, as well as their own personal wellbeing and relationships.”
Events and services on Tuesdays and Thursdays will include kai and kōrero, creative wānanga, regular check-ins, sexual health workshops, employment support, mental health workshops and movie nights.
Saturdays will include a kapa haka practice led by Hawke’s Bay’s own Paris Brown, or “Aunty Pere” to her rangatahi (she/her, Takatāpui).
Brown said kapa haka was a good form of stress relief for many in the community, but often there was no place for rainbow members in the wider context of the art form.
“For those who understand tikanga in te ao Māori, when it comes to performing, there is no place for us unless we form a kapa haka roopu ourselves.”
Brown said the kapa haka group she is forming within the hub will celebrate all cultures and traditions in the rainbow-plus community.
“It’s for whoever is there, really. At the end of the day, we’re not only Takatāpui but we’re Māori, were Pasifika and we’re Indian etc as well.”
Panu Te Whaiti, from Te Whatu Ora Hawke’s Bay, is also helping to facilitate the health response and wellbeing aspect of the hub and said there was a significant commitment from the local health sector.
Te Whaiti has worked closely with the rainbow-plus community in Hawke’s Bay over the years, helping to coordinate Te Whatu Ora rainbow advisory in the region and working closely with transgender services specialist Dr Beth McElrea.
“There’s been nothing of its kind,” she said when asked about the significance of the hub in Hawke’s Bay.
There had been similar types of services offered previously but nothing this accepting of a range of ages, Te Whaiti said. This service had “a targeted focus for Māori and Pasifika. However, it’s also open to all ethnicities.”
Brown said that Hawke’s Bay is home to many rainbow whānau, but because there was nothing for them in the region, they tended to move to bigger cities.
“We’re looking for acceptance outside of our own city because there’s nothing we can relate to here.”
Now 29, Brown said it took her 24 years to find herself.
“That 24 years alone was probably the hardest 24 years of my life. Not having anyone beside me and having to figure out things alone, it can become a dark world.”
She said her inspiration for getting involved was to act in a “big sister” role and provide support to whānau that were going through their own journeys of self-discovery.
“I knew how my mental space got sometimes when I felt alone and I don’t want anyone to end up in that space any more.”
And in her own words, now more than ever is the time to come together as a community.
“The rainbow hub is a need, and not a want.”
More information on the hub can be found at Manioro Rainbow Hub Hawke’s Bay Instagram page.
A launch will be held on April 1st at the Learning Innovations centre, 215 Railway Rd, Hastings.
