The Historic Village building was burnt down under circumstances police have described as suspicious. Photo / Emma Houpt.
A burnt-down building, homophobic graffiti and a school's condemnation of homosexual relationships are just some of the recent events that have raised concern in New Zealand's rainbow community.
This all comes during Pride Month, a period meant to be an annual celebration for the LGBTQ+ community around the world.
Auckland Pride director Max Tweedie tells the Front Page podcast this serves as a reminder that members of the community cannot be complacent – especially when looking at the latest Police statistics.
"Last year, there were 264 victims of crimes that involved sexual orientation or gender identity as recorded by Police," says Tweedie.
"That's a higher number than the year before. And although we know that this has always existed here, but I think there is a new threat with what's coming out of the United States."
Tweedie says that while Covid-19 restrictions did help to keep many in the population safe, they did have the side effect of having people congregate on social media groups that spread rampant misinformation on a range of topics, in turn stoking anger and fear.
Last week's arson attack on the Historic Village building in Tauranga, an organisation that serves the needs of the gender-diverse community, was just one example of the LGBTQ+ community being targeted recently.
Earlier, Greymouth's Pink Church had graffiti scrawled across both sides of the building and a rainbow flag staked on the front lawn had been set alight.
Tweedie says some of the Graffiti referred a Leviticus Bible verse that calls for gay people to be stoned.
But the issues don't stop there.
Tauranga's Bethlehem College also attracted headlines for an internal statement that marriage is between a man and a woman.
The controversy intensified when an internal document revealed the school's stance on gender, saying that "the biological sex of a person is determined at conception to be male or female and their gender identity should align with their biological sex".
"A lot of past students have come forward to talk about the homophobic and transphobic environments they were subjected to at the school. Chants of 'kill the gays'* were [allegedly] among those heard at the school," says Tweedie. [See below for update on internal investigation]
"And one trans student, who was told God doesn't make mistakes in regard to their identity, attempted suicide. So there are some really horrible stories that have been uncovered at the school."
Surveys conducted both in New Zealand and abroad have shown that members of the trans community are more likely to consider or attempt self-harm.
"We know from the 'Counting ourselves survey for trans and non-binary individuals' that the rate of [self harm] is around 42 per cent of all trans and gender diverse people… These are really alarming statistics. When you look at other rainbow populations, we are disproportionately likely to attempt suicide and to have more severe mental distress.
"The statistics are not showing excellent rates of mental health in our community."
Tweedie says this all comes in the international context, which has seen conservative lawmakers in the United States introduce more than 300 state bills taking aim at rainbow communities – particularly trans kids.
These bills range from contentious topics like banning trans people in sports to proposals that drag queens should be restricted from reading to kids in Texas.
"It's a distraction," says Tweedie.
"The legislators in Texas haven't moved to restrict guns, but they're trying to keep drag queens away from kids. It's just ridiculous."
Some of this rhetoric has also made its way into New Zealand.
The online page of a popular drag queen storytime event in New Plymouth was recently targeted with a string of homophobic comments.
"This is a perfect example of how quickly rhetoric that appeared in the United States was then almost immediately exported to New Zealand.
"These events have been a huge hit in Aotearoa ... These are just drag queens reading and telling kids' stories. They pose absolutely no threat to children ... Kids overwhelmingly love them. And again, it's a great opportunity to encourage more kids to read in a really fun context. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It's all scaremongering."
While there is a strong international influence pervading the cultural landscape at the moment, Tweedie does warn against blaming this ugliness on anyone else. He sees it as an opportunity for introspection, for New Zealand to really look at the progress we still need to make.
"I think a lot of people in our community and in the general population were complacent about the rights of rainbow communities, especially after marriage equality," he says.
"People just went: 'Ah well, we've made it. There's nothing more to be done here.' Progress is being made, but that progress is under threat."
He argues it's important for New Zealand to accept that we still have work to do, despite everything that has been achieved to this point.
"These events in Greymouth and Tauranga – they are us," he says.
"They are in our communities, they are incredibly harmful, they risk doing further harm and we need to do something about them."
WHERE TO GET HELP
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 (available
24/7)
• Outline: 0800 688 5463
• target='_blank'>Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youth services: (06) 3555 906
• Youthline: 0800 376 633
• What's Up: 0800 942 8787 (11am to
11pm)
• Depression helpline: 0800 111 757
(available 24/7)
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
• Helpline: 1737
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111
•
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am.
• You can follow the podcast at nzherald.co.nz, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
*UPDATE: An internal investigation by Bethlehem College into behaviour during the silent protest held on 10 June found no evidence of chanting against the protest. The investigation did find that one student shouted an insult, which was then repeated by another. The investigation also found that two students threw fruit at the protesters. One student threw a half-eaten apple at the protest group. Another threw a half-eaten banana, which hit a protester on the back of the head. Two students were also found to have commented online in a derogatory manner towards the protest group. One of the comments made was threatening. Bethlehem College board chair Paul Shakes said that the school is responding with usual disciplinary processes in terms of students that did not meet the required standards of behaviour.