Boycott call over pride festival’s ‘tourism focus’
Several rainbow groups in Wellington intend to boycott the city’s pride parade over what they argue is a misplaced focus on tourism and corporate sponsorship.
But an organiser of the parade says the planned boycott is a shame and sends the wrong message to young queer and genderdiverse people at a time supposed to be about community solidarity.
The dispute has put a cloud over the start of this year’s Wellington Pride Festival, running over two weeks and showcasing the ‘‘talent, hard work, and creativity’’ of Wellington’s queer and trans community.
As part of the festival, more than 100 events organised by various groups are to be held between February 21 and March 8 across the capital, including the Wellington International Pride Parade on March 7.
National transgender organisation Gender Minorities Aotearoa, rainbow charity InsideOut, queer venue Ivy Bar & Cabaret, and other groups that make up the Wellington Rainbow Affiliation Towards Hope alliance, signed an open letter this week asking for people to boycott the parade over an alleged lack of consultation with the rainbow community.
Gender Minorities Aotearoa national coordinator Ahi WiHongi said the parade’s organisers were more focused on celebrating tourism than pride.
Wi-Hongi said signatories of the letter felt ‘‘let down’’ and ‘‘used’’ by people running the parade, as they’d organised for ‘‘far more corporate floats, rather than community floats’’.
‘‘[This] isn’t about the rainbow community, it’s about tourism.’’
Wellington City Council had given funding to parade organisers with a focus on ‘‘international tourism’’ and ‘‘selling Wellington as a tourist destination’’, Wi-Hongi said.
But city council spokesman Richard MacLean said the claim about tourism being a key focus for the parade was ‘‘nonsense’’.
‘‘If it does happen to start attracting tourists, that’s an even better thing,’’ he said.
MacLean said the council was aware of calls to boycott the event, but the council’s role as one of the parade’s funders was being an ‘‘enthusiastic supporter’’.
It was not appropriate, nor was it the council’s place, to get involved with the ‘‘politics that are afoot at the moment’’.
Richard Tait, co-chair of Wellington International Pride Parade, said that it was ‘‘a really sad day when the community starts fighting’’ and ‘‘turning on itself’’.
Tait said the parade welcomed all people, businesses and groups who wanted to celebrate pride.
Parade organisers looked forward to working with the signatories in a mediation process, in hopes of resolving the dispute, he said.
Meanwhile, Acting Wellington Area Commander Inspector Dion Bennett confirmed police would walk in the March 7 parade, in uniform, as they had done in previous years.
‘‘Staff and their families will join the capital throughout the festival to celebrate the diversity of our workforce and the community, and to promote inclusion and dialogue,’’ Bennett said.
‘‘We are looking forward to taking part in a magnificent day filled with arohatanga for anyone and everyone.’’