Us feel proud’
G struggle for acceptance and hopes it lifts rainbow community
At the Pride Parade, Near Field Communication ( NFC) powered wristbands that recognise each other and light up when the wearer holds hands with another wearer will also be distributed in a bid to encourage hand holding.
A dawn festival, featuring guest speakers and performances from Ahakoa Te Aha this morning at the top end of Western Park on Ponsonby Rd, will kick off this year’s Pride celebrations.
“In the light of the new day, this ceremony seeks to connect our spirits to Tamaki Makaurau, blessing all those who participate in and around [ the festival] with a safe and meaningful time,” organisers said.
The Auckland Pride Gala is back tonight at the Q Theatre after a one-year hiatus following public demand.
On Sunday, thousands of condoms will be distributed at the “Ending HIV” themed Big Gay Out at Pt Chevalier.
The Department of Corrections this year was barred from marching at the Pride Parade because the festival board felt it had failed to live up to promises made about improving support for LGBTI prisoners.
The department was the only organisation to have been refused participation, with more than 50 groups — including police — set to parade on February 25.
Auckland Pride chairwoman Kirsten Sibbit said she wanted the parade to be an inclusive event which supports diversity and advances equality for members of the rainbow communities.
The decision, she said, was against the organisation and not individuals. An Auckland mother living with HIV says ending new HIV infections in New Zealand by 2025 is not impossible, but it will require “an incredible amount” of effort.
The number of new infections here has been on the rise since 2012, and 2015 saw the highest ever recorded with an estimated one in 15 gay and bisexual men now living with HIV/Aids in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Aids Foundation is setting an ambitious target to end all new transmissions within eight years.
“It is possible to be done, but we’ve got a lot of work [to do],” said Sophie Jayawardene, 52, an advocate for people living with HIV/Aids.
“We’ve got to look at education, why HIV is growing in New Zealand; and we have got to change a lot of the behaviour and attitudes in people.”
Jayawardene was diagnosed with HIV in 1989 shortly after she moved to New Zealand from Zimbabwe.
She is using her struggle with the infection to become an advocate for HIV sufferers.
“HIV has become almost normal because of medication, and one of the biggest challenges is for people to [accept] it as part of our society,” Jayawardene said.
“In the rainbow community, I am disheartened at how many of us had committed suicide due to despair.”
She knew of seven who had taken their lives in the past year.
“Those of us with HIV suffer a double discrimination, not only for being gay but also for having HIV,” Jayawardene added. Watch the video interview at nzherald.co.nz