“When the working day is done. You know gays, they want to have fun”. We are one Pride culture with many facets. No one wins if one of us wins, we all have to win. I have been asked in this opinion piece to identify issues facing the community. But instead of writing down all the issues, because let’s be honest – there are lots! Let’s talk about the positive things about the community.
Let’s be thankful that homosexuality is not criminalised here in New Zealand. I am Tokelaun, Fijian and Chinese descent. In one of my cultures homosexuality is still a crime. In another homosexuality is shut down and prejudiced against. In my pacific culture, the word “gay” is not even in the language. I think it’s important to look at the positive things about our culture as we continue to address the issues that need to be changed in our community.
Diversity should be celebrated and we should continue to learn more about each other. Recently I started a party in Wellington with my business partner Nathan Brown. We called the party Anthem. The name was chosen for two meanings. One for the dictionary term, to bring people together for a particular cause. The second was the pronoun built into the name an(them). We wanted to highlight the ongoing conversation of diversity through a celebration of dance. The Anthem dance party was the official Pride party for Wellington in 2020. We saw 500+ people come together and share the dance floor as we celebrated Pride.
So if girls just want to have fun, what is fun? I believe fun can be many things, sex, parties, friends, fashion, clubs, spaces etc. Fun is also freedom from oppression. Fun is walking into a room and feeling accepted. Fun is being proud of your sexuality. Fun is loving the person next to you no matter how different they are from you. Fun is continuously listening, learning and creating a better future for the next generation to come. Fun is celebrating the journey.
I’ll finish with some lyrics from a song by Cyndi Lauper.
“I want to be the one to walk in the sun. Girls just wanna have fun.”
To vote for Josiah go here.
Last Updated on Feb 11, 2021
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