This is a list of LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) holders of political offices in New Zealand.
Charles Mackay, who served as Mayor of Whanganui for a non-consecutive period from 1906 to 1920, is the first known gay mayor. Mackay resigned from his position in 1920 after the attempted murder of poet D'Arcy Cresswell, who allegedly blackmailed him and threatened to publicly expose his homosexuality. [1] [2] Most mentions of Mackay were removed from Whanganui due to the controversy, including having streets renamed, his official portrait removed, and his name sanded off the foundation stone of the Sarjeant Gallery. [1] The first openly lesbian councillor in New Zealand was Margaret Magill, who served on the Eastbourne Borough Council from 1931 for around 30 years, including as deputy mayor of Eastbourne. [3]
The first known LGBTQIA+ member of the New Zealand Parliament was Marilyn Waring, who served in parliament from 1975 to 1984. Waring was outed by the press in 1975, but openly acknowledged her sexual orientation only after leaving parliament. [4] The first openly LGBTQIA+ politician was Chris Carter, who was elected to the Te Atatū electorate in 1993, serving until 2010. [5] Carter and Tim Barnett established Rainbow Labour, the LGBT branch within the New Zealand Labour Party, in 1997. [6]
Georgina Beyer became the world's first openly transgender mayor in 1995, when she became the Mayor of Carterton. Beyer later represented Wairarapa in the New Zealand Parliament from 1999 to 2005, becoming the world's first openly transgender Member of Parliament. [7]
After the 2020 New Zealand general election, the New Zealand parliament had thirteen openly LGBTQIA+ MPs, making it the country with the highest proportion of LGBTQIA+ politicians serving in government in the world. [8] Currently, there are six LGBTQIA+ MPs in the New Zealand parliament.
Grant Robertson is the longest serving LGBTQIA+ member of parliament, having been elected in 2008. Robertson served as the first LGBTQIA+ Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2020 to 2023, and was the first openly gay deputy prime minister in New Zealand. [9]
Name | Image | Party | Seat | Term in Office | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Marilyn Waring [4] | National Party | Raglan | 1975 | 1978 | Outed by a tabloid newspaper in 1976, [10] Waring openly acknowledged her sexual orientation after leaving parliament. [4] | ||
Waipa | 1978 | 1984 | |||||
Chris Carter [5] | Labour Party | Te Atatū | 1993 | 2010 | First openly gay member of Parliament, [5] and cofounder of Rainbow Labour. [6] | ||
Independent | 2010 | 2011 | |||||
Tim Barnett [11] | Labour Party | Christchurch Central | 1996 | 2008 | Cofounder of Rainbow Labour. [6] | ||
Georgina Beyer [7] | Labour Party | Wairarapa | 1999 | 2005 | First openly transgender Member of Parliament in the world, [7] and first takatāpui Member of Parliament. [12] | ||
Chris Finlayson [13] | National Party | List | 2005 | 2019 | First openly gay member of parliament for a right-wing party. [13] | ||
Maryan Street [14] | Labour Party | List | 2005 | 2014 | First openly lesbian Member of Parliament. [14] | ||
Charles Chauvel [15] | Labour Party | List | 2006 | 2013 | |||
Grant Robertson [16] | Labour Party | Wellington Central | 2008 | 2023 | First openly gay deputy prime minister in New Zealand. [9] | ||
List | 2023 | 2024 | |||||
Louisa Wall [17] | Labour Party | List | 2008 | 2008 | Wall introduced the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013, [18] which made same-sex marriage legal in New Zealand. [19] | ||
List | 2011 | 2011 | |||||
Manurewa | 2011 | 2020 | |||||
List | 2020 | 2022 | |||||
Kevin Hague [20] | Green Party | List | 2011 | 2016 | |||
Jan Logie [21] | Green Party | List | 2011 | 2023 | |||
Paul Foster-Bell [22] | National Party | List | 2013 | 2017 | |||
Claudette Hauiti [23] | National Party | List | 2013 | 2014 | |||
Meka Whaitiri [24] | Labour Party | Ikaroa-Rāwhiti | 2013 | 2023 | First LGBT Māori electorate MP. | ||
Independent | 2023 | 2023 | |||||
Tāmati Coffey [25] | Labour Party | Waiariki | 2017 | 2020 | |||
List | 2020 | 2023 | |||||
Kiri Allan [26] | Labour Party | List | 2017 | 2020 | |||
East Coast | 2020 | 2023 | |||||
Chlöe Swarbrick [27] | Green Party | List | 2017 | 2020 | First LGBT leader of a parliamentary party. | ||
Auckland Central | 2020 | Present | |||||
Glen Bennett [28] | Labour Party | New Plymouth | 2020 | 2023 | |||
List | 2024 | Present | |||||
Shanan Halbert [29] | Labour Party | Northcote | 2020 | 2023 | |||
List | 2024 | Present | |||||
Tangi Utikere [8] | Labour Party | Palmerston North | 2020 | Present | |||
Ayesha Verrall [8] | Labour Party | List | 2020 | Present | |||
Elizabeth Kerekere [30] | Green Party | List | 2020 | 2023 | |||
Independent | 2023 | 2023 | |||||
Ricardo Menéndez March [31] | Green Party | List | 2020 | Present | |||
Todd Stephenson [32] | ACT | List | 2023 | Present | |||
Lawrence Xu-Nan | Green Party | List | 2024 | Present |
Georgina Beyer was a New Zealand Labour Party politician who represented Wairarapa in the Parliament of New Zealand from 1999 to 2005, after serving as mayor of Carterton from 1995 to 1999. Beyer was the world's first openly transgender mayor, and the world's first openly transgender member of parliament. As a member of the Labour Party Beyer supported progressive policies including prostitution law reform, civil unions, anti-discrimination laws, and the promotion of Māori rights. She resigned in 2007, and, in 2014, unsuccessfully stood for election on behalf of the Mana Party.
Onslow College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Johnsonville, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. In 2020 it had 1250 students. The current principal is Sheena Millar.
Rainbow Labour is the LGBT+ sector of the New Zealand Labour Party.
Ramon Te Wake is a New Zealand trans woman documentarian, singer-songwriter and television presenter. Her first presenting job was for Māori Television, where she was one of three people fronting Takatāpui, which is Maori Television's first ever LGBT show.
New Zealand lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are some of the most extensive in the world. The protection of LGBT rights is advanced, relative to other countries in Oceania, and among the most liberal in the world, with the country being the first in the region to legalise same-sex marriage.
The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 is a New Zealand Act of Parliament that broadly legalised consensual sexual practices between men as well as consensual anal sex regardless of partners' gender. It removed the provisions of the Crimes Act 1961 that criminalised this behaviour. The legislation established a uniform age of consent, setting it at 16 for both same-sex and opposite-sex partners.
The Hero Parade was an (almost) annual gay and lesbian parade in Auckland, New Zealand which operated from 1992-2001. It was part of the Hero Festival. The Hero Parade and Festival usually took place in February, a week or two ahead of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
New Zealand society is generally accepting of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) peoples. The LGBT-friendly environment is epitomised by the fact that there are several members of Parliament who belong to the LGBT community, LGBT rights are protected by the Human Rights Act, and same-sex couples are able to marry as of 2013. Sex between men was decriminalised in 1986. New Zealand has an active LGBT community, with well-attended annual gay pride festivals in most cities.
Louisa Hareruia Wall is a New Zealand former double international sportswoman, former politician, and human rights advocate. She represented New Zealand in both netball as a Silver Fern from 1989 to 1992 and in rugby union as a member of the Black Ferns from 1995 to 2001, including as a member of the 1991 World Netball Championships runner-up team and 1998 Women's Rugby World Cup winning team.
Jonathan Edgar Joseph Young is a former National Party Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Plymouth electorate. He was first elected in the 2008 general election and served until 2020.
Carmen Rupe, was a New Zealand drag performer, brothel keeper, anti-discrimination activist, would-be politician and HIV/AIDS activist. Carmen Rupe was New Zealand's first drag queen to reach celebrity status. She was a trans woman.
The Mayor of Carterton is the mayor of the Carterton District, which is administered by Carterton District Council, and earlier the office oversaw the Carterton Borough from 1887 until 1989, when Carterton Borough and Wairarapa South County were amalgamated to form Carterton District.
Tahere Paul Eagle is a New Zealand politician and former member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Rongotai electorate from 2017 to 2023. He was a Wellington City Councillor from 2010 to 2017 and was the first person of Māori descent to be Deputy Mayor of Wellington, but was defeated in a landslide when he sought the mayoralty as an independent candidate in 2022.
Andrew John Whitfield Foster is a New Zealand politician. He was elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives as a list MP for the New Zealand First party in the 2023 New Zealand general election.
James Samuel McDowall is a former New Zealand politician. He was a Member of Parliament for ACT New Zealand from 2020 until 2023.
Stephen Berry is a perennial candidate in New Zealand national and local politics, running on right-wing positions.