1979 |
|
|
Otago Gay Rights Society formed. |
1979 |
|
|
Gay Switchboard established in Wellington |
1979 |
|
|
HERA (Help End Repressive Attitudes), a support group for lesbians, specifically disavowing "man hating" and separatism, is formed in Dunedin. |
1979 |
|
|
US lesbian feminist Charlotte Bunch is guest speaker at the last United Women's Convention in Hamilton. It has a lesbian-only space. Lesbians challenge the "equality of sexual orientations" stance of the organising committee. |
1979 |
|
|
Victoria Club formed in Wellington by David Carson-Parker, Kees Cooge, Arthur Duncan, John Mackay, Pierre Meyer, and Bruce Young. |
1979 |
|
|
First "Reclaim The Night" march in Wellington |
1979 |
early |
|
A coming-out group for lesbians, Breathing Space, is formed in Wellington. |
1979 |
Easter |
|
Ascent Wellington formed for gay and lesbian Catholics |
1979 |
mid |
|
A small lesbian separatist community is formed at Kiwitahi, near Morrinsville. It lasts several months. |
1979 |
August |
|
Jill Livestre tells the southern regional meeting of the National Gay Rights Coalition in Dunedin that lesbians will work with gay men when they have developed a radical political analysis of their relationship to society. |
1979 |
August |
|
Christchurch branch of Ascent formed |
1979 |
August |
|
Geyserland Gay Club formed in Rotorua. |
1979 |
November |
|
A lesbian weekend is held in Wellington. |
1979 |
November |
|
The world's first lesbian centre (so named, rather than just women-only) opens at 6 Boulcott St, Wellington. Officially opened in March 1980. |
1979 |
|
|
Women's Resource Centre and Hecate Women's Health Collective opens at 6 Boulcott St, Wellington |
1979 |
|
|
Wellington Gay Community Centre established at 6 Boulcott St. It lasts until the building is demolished in 1987 |
1979 |
December |
|
Nelson Gay Society formed from Nelson Gay Welfare Group. |
1979 |
December |
|
Lesbians and gay men are excluded from the Puss-in-Boots bar in Wellington. They hold a picket in protest. |
1980 |
Easter |
|
Eighth national Gay Rights conference is held in Dunedin. |
1980 - 83 |
|
|
The Equality Bill Campaign works unsuccessfully to have a Bill introduced. |
1980 |
|
|
Network Group formed by Mike Waghorn to oppose the Freer Bill. |
1980 |
|
|
Lesbian Mothers' Defence Fund established by Yoka Neuman |
1980 |
|
|
Gay Information Centre established in Christchurch. |
1980 |
|
|
Gays In Education (later Gays and Lesbians are Everywhere in Education or GLEE) (re)established by Nigel Pearson |
1980 |
|
|
A women's liberation newsletter "Bitches, Witches and Dykes" begins in Auckland. |
1980 |
|
|
A women's liberation newsletter "Behind Enemy Lines" begins in Wellington (2 or 3 issues) |
1980 |
|
|
Wellington lesbians organise Lesbian Liberation Week. |
1980 |
|
|
A "Lesbian Liberation" banner is carried in a Reclaim The Night march in Wellington |
1980 |
|
|
First NZ gay feature film, "Squeeze", directed by Richard Turner, premieres at the Berkeley, Mission Bay. Demonstrators hold signs: "God says 'NO'". |
1980 |
February |
1 |
9 pm. Police raid the Westside sauna in Auckland, question 30 men, arrest and charge 8. |
1980 |
February |
8 |
600 people take part in a march to protest at police raids on the Westside sauna and OUT! magazine. Lesbians carry a "Lesbian Nation" banner. A further demonstration is held on February 22 |
1980 |
|
|
The Auckland Gay Task Force is established as a result of the Westside sauna raid. |
1980 |
March |
7 |
40 lesbians (some anonymously in purple veils) march through Wellington to mark International Lesbian Day (March 8) |
1980 |
March |
20 |
The Lesbian Mothers Defence Fund presents a submission to the select committee considering the Guardianship Amendment Bill |
1980 |
March |
|
The Lesbian Liberation Army attacks the offices of "Sunday News" with bricks and paint bombs after it runs an anti-lesbian article. |
1980 |
April |
24 |
Arthur Ball stabs Miles Macfarlane - a total stranger - to death in Manners St, Wellington, because he imagines Macfarlane thinks he is homosexual |
1980 |
April |
|
Wellington Lesbians attempt to augment an Anzac Day service by carrying a coffin and laying a wreath in memory of women raped and killed in wartime. |
1980 |
May |
|
Lesbians of Wanganui Gay Liberation are interviewed by the local paper. |
1980 |
May |
|
Gay men organise National Offenders Day march to protest at anti-gay laws in a carnival atmosphere. Lesbians dykecott the march saying it fails to challenge the status quo. |
1980 |
June |
|
Wellington lesbians and gay men picket the Russian embassy to protest at the treatment of homosexuals in the USSR. |
1980 |
June |
|
A streetwalk for lesbian visibility is held in Wellington. |
1980 |
June |
|
Third Gay Pride Week is observed in Auckland, Gisborne, Wellington, Dunedin. |
1980 |
June |
|
Lacking support, the Freer Bill is abandoned. |
1980 |
July |
|
Wellington Mayor Michael Fowler vetoes lesbian notices in buses ("Lesbians, contact your community, P O Box ..."). Lesbians march and picket in protest. |
1980 |
July |
7 |
Wellington lesbians and gays picket the Soviet embassy in protest at oppression in the USSR and in support of Enzo Francone, who chained himself to a Kremlin railing during the Moscow Olympics. |
1980 |
September |
|
One workshop on lesbianism is held at the first national hui for Black women. |
1980 |
September |
|
About 50 Wellington lesbians join protest against the US nuclear-powered warship Truxtun with a banner "Lesbian Activity Today Stops Radioactivity Tomorrow" |
1980 |
September |
|
Chief Human Rights Commissioner Pat Downey supports rejection of National Gay Rights Coalition submissions, saying in some circumstances discrimination is justified. |
1980 |
September |
|
Gays and lesbians are banned from the Cantabrian Hotel, Christchurch. They hold a street parade in protest, led by a truck carrying a piano. |
1980 |
October |
4-11 |
The first Lesbian Librarians' Week is held in Wellington and Christchurch |
1980 |
October |
10 |
200 women take part in a lesbian march through Wellington, followed by a Lesbian Liberation Dance attended by 300. |
1980 |
November |
|
Wellington City Council buses are overnight covered in stickers promoting the Wellington Lesbian Centre |
1980 |
December |
|
Lesbians post anti-Christmas posters in Wellington and Hastings, and a banner on St Mary of the Angels (RC, Wellington): "It's a Girl!" |
1981 |
|
|
Zoe Catherine Alice begins the Waxing Moon Archives, a lesbian-opearated collection in Hamilton |
1981 |
|
|
The Women's Place bookshop is opened in Cuba St, Wellington. It later moves to Courteney Place, closes in 1989. |
1981 |
early |
|
Young Lesbian and Gay group formed in Auckland. |
1981 |
|
|
Lesbians and Gays Against Racism formed (co-founder David Bisman) during the campaign against the Springbok Tour. According to Julie Glamuzina, it is more GAR than LAR. |
1981 |
January |
|
Picket of the Human Rights Commission office in Wellington |
1981 |
February |
6 |
About 30 lesbians carry "Lesbians Oppose Racism" banner at protest against Waitangi celebrations in Wellington. |
1981 |
February |
|
Lesbians organised by Jenny Rankine picket the Human Rights Commision office in Auckland. |
1981 |
March |
|
Lesbians dykecott the census in protest at the Human Rights Commission's denial of human rights: some deface their forms with "No rights - no responsibilities." |
1981 |
March |
30 |
Lesbian/Gay Media Collective formed (merged with Pink Triangle Publishing Collective, 1982) |
1981 |
April |
|
National Lesbian Mothers' weekend in Auckland |
1981 |
April |
25 |
"Lesbian Liberation" is painted on a Wellington war memorial. |
1981 |
June |
|
30-40 lesbians attend a Lesbian activist weekend |
1981 |
June |
|
The Grey Lynn / Ponsonby Black Women's collective holds a Black Dykes' hui on Waiheke Island ("black" = Maori and Pacific Island, a political description) |
1981 |
June |
5 |
(US: Centers for Disease Control reports five gay men in Los Angeles with PCP, a normally-rare cancer.) |