Jacquie Grant

Last updated

Jacquie Grant
ONZM
Jacqueline Grant, of Hokitika, ONZM (cropped).jpg
Grant in 2018
Grey District Councillor
In office
1998–2004
Personal details
Born1942or1943(age 82)
Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
CitizenshipNew Zealander

Jacqueline Grant ONZM (born 1942or1943 [1] [2] ) is a New Zealand local politician, foster parent and museum owner. She was a Grey District Councillor between 1998 and 2004, and founded the Sock World museum in Hokitika. In 1998, Grant was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the community, and 20 years later she was promoted to Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, also for services to the community.

Contents

Early life

Grant was born in the Australian state of Victoria, and moved to Sydney at age 10 to live with her grandparents. [3] Having fallen out with their grandparents, Grant reports living independently in Sydney's Kings Cross by the age of 13. [3] As a trans person, Grant moved to New Zealand for safety. [3]

Life in New Zealand

Grey served two terms on Grey District Council from 1998 to 2004. [4] [5] She was chairperson of Enterprise Hokitika, and was a founding member and treasurer of the Chrissy Witoko Memorial Trust. [5] For twelve years Grant was a community representative on Work and Income New Zealand's Benefit Review Committee for the West Coast. [5] She has also served on the Human Rights Review Tribunal. [6] [4] [7]

Grant suggested to the Westland District Council in 2014 that the Westland Pioneers' Memorial should be restored and relocated. [5] [8] Some members of the community took exception to the relocation and Grant endured a hate campaign over several years, including social media posts deadnaming her. [9] Grant took a civil prosecution against two people, and they were ordered to remove the posts, apologise and pay costs. [9] [10]

Grant opened the Sock World sock museum and shop in Hokitika. The oldest machine is from 1803, and there are about 100 machines in the museum. [11] Grant has fostered more than 75 young people. [5]

In 2019, Grant spoke at an event with Brian Tamaki, aimed at reducing division between Destiny Church and the gay community. Tamaki had previously blamed gay people for causing earthquakes. Grant wanted to donate her speaker's fee to Rainbow Youth, but they declined it. [12] [13]

Grant stood for Mayor of Westland at the 2025 local elections. Progress results indicated that she led Helen Lash, the incumbent mayor, by 64 votes. [14] [1] After the release of progress results, Grant stated that Hokitika had supported her platform of rates increasing with inflation, curbing non-essential council spending, and promoting transparency. [14] If elected, she would become New Zealand's oldest sitting mayor, as Wayne Brown, the Mayor of Auckland, is 79, [14] while Grant is 82. [1] [2] Grant would also become New Zealand's second openly transgender mayor, after Georgina Beyer. [14] [2] Full results are expected to be released on 16 October. [1]

Honours and awards

In the 1998 New Year Honours, Grant was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the community. In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was promoted to Officer of same order, also for services to the community. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Williams, Lois (12 October 2025). "Jacquie Grant, 82, leads Westland mayoral race by narrow margin". Radio New Zealand . Archived from the original on 12 October 2025. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Cook, Alexa (12 October 2025). "Westland's Jacquie Grant poised to become NZ's second transgender mayor". Radio New Zealand . Archived from the original on 12 October 2025. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 "Jacquie Grant ONZM » PrideNZ.com". www.pridenz.com. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Transgender/transsexual people", Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, retrieved 26 October 2024
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Queen's Birthday Honours 2018 - Citations for Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC)". www.dpmc.govt.nz. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  6. ↑ "Transsexual tribunal member under fire". NZ Herald. 26 October 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  7. ↑ "When it doesn't pay to care - New Zealand News". NZ Herald. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  8. ↑ "Statue 'facing wrong way' in Hokitika". NZ Herald. 26 October 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  9. 1 2 Naish, Joanne (20 April 2021). "Pair ordered to remove offensive material after 'dead-naming' Hokitika businesswoman". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  10. ↑ EX, YOUR (21 April 2021). "Jacquie Grant Harassment and Dead-Naming Ordeal Comes to a Close". express Magazine. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  11. ↑ Siobhan, Downes (12 October 2016). "World famous in NZ: Sock World, Hokitika". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  12. ↑ Dan Lake; Bridget Grace (4 June 2019). "Rainbow Youth 'pathetic idiots' - Destiny Church party campaign manager". Newshub. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  13. ↑ Scott Palmer; Cleo Fraser (2 June 2019). "RainbowYOUTH refuses donations from Destiny Church event speakers". Newshub. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Naish, Joanne (11 October 2025). "Contender for 'oldest tranny' mayor in the world takes 64-vote lead". The Press | Te Matatika . Archived from the original on 12 October 2025. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
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