Contrary to recent claims by Wellington Pride supporters, LAVA members have been defending our right, enshrined in the Human Rights Act 1993, to exclude men from our groups and spaces. This article is by Tighe, a LAVA founder and member, who protested with us at the Ministry for Women and Michael Fowler Centre in March 2021.

“Today, lesbians who stand up for lesbians are called bigots, trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs), Nazis. What has caused this mass hatred of lesbians in a time when the rainbow flag can be seen in many places? Queer, trans, LGBTQ+ seem to have the ear of governments and corporations.”

Hilary Oxley, one of LAVA’s Human Rights Review Tribunal plaintiffs, delivered a speech at the German Embassy in Te Whanganui a Tara | Wellington on 1 November as part of a global protest against Sex Self ID, in solidarity with women in Germany.

Jan’s memoir rang bells for me in so many ways. We are almost the same age and like Jan I am a lesbian. Her descriptions of a 1960’s New Zealand childhood had such unexpected similarities to my own English version, but while my childhood was loud hers was almost silent. I have been on both sides of the mental health issue– my own struggles and in the role of attempting to care.

Read this excellent account by Garwhoungle at The Ministry Has Fallen on Substack, of the situation the LAVA lesbians found themselves in when their stall to display a lesbian herstory map at Pride was cancelled - because they exercised their freedom of political opinion, freedom of association and freedom of expression.

The editorial of the first edition of the CIRCLE magazine in December 1973 was written by Alison Laurie for the CIRCLE Magazine Collective and the Wellington branch of SHE.

The significance of Alison’s contribution to the development of lesbian-feminism, lesbian consciousness and community, and lesbian perspectives in Aotearoa/New Zealand is indisputable. Because she was unafraid to stand out as a proud lesbian, she inspired other women to do the same.

On 8 August, LAVA claimant Marg Curnow was interviewed by Paul Brennan for his Breakfast show on Reality Check Radio. Listen to them to discuss our case in the Human Rights Review Tribunal at the link in this article.

Andrew Doyle is comedian from Northern Ireland, who is part of the global resistance by lesbians and gay men to the queer and trans takeover of Pride.

An new review from the U.K. says claims of massive spikes in suicides following changes to guidelines on puberty blockers to be not only false but dangerous.

I had heard her on the Kim Hill program talking about her music and mentioning that she was lesbian. “Yahoo!” I thought - “how fabulous and singing in the St Peter's Hall in Paekākāriki - bet there will be a crowd there”.

LAVA members were saddened to hear that Anaria Tangohau passed away last week.

Marg Curnow, a plaintiff in our Human Rights Review Tribunal case has had a letter to the editor of The Post published, responding to this opinion piece in The Post on June 19 2024. We reproduce Marg’s letter below.

At the same time she acknowledges the homophobia behind the trans movement and roundly condemns it. “A lesbian passing as male in public is nothing new. What’s new is the medical facilitation of it, and given the environments some of us find ourselves in, it’s hard for me to see growing a beard as self-harm. It’s self-preservation.”

Some of us had known Felicity for decades, others only in more recent years and we will each remember her in our own way.

Most mornings I enjoy my breakfast, silently acknowledging the women covering the wall that is directly in front of me. The photos of these women are a mix of famous lesbians. My partner and I call it our 'lesbian wall of courage' and often challenge other lesbians who visit us to name them. Not many get all the names right, mainly because these heroic lesbians aren't mentioned publicly - they become lost in time.

In 1993, New Zealand became the first country to include the word ‘lesbian’ in its Human Rights Legislation. This was an amazing achievement. We never envisaged that thirty years later, however, men would challenge the legal meaning of ‘ lesbian’.

Renée Taylor (Ngāti Kahungunu), better known simply as Renée, has died. The New Zealand lesbian playwright, novelist, and short story writer passed away at home on 11 December 2023, aged 94.