September 2024 Case Update
Dear friends
We are members of LAVA (Lesbian Action for Visibility in Aotearoa). We are bringing a potentially ground-breaking claim in the New Zealand Human Rights Review Tribunal, against Wellington Pride for refusing us a stall at the annual Out In The City fair in 2021.
We need your support.
LAVA formed in 1988 and campaigned successfully to have lesbians protected from discrimination in the Human Rights Act 1993.
New Zealand was not only the first country where women won the right to vote but also the first country in the world to specifically use the word lesbian rather than the general term homosexual, in legislation. In line with our proud history of achieving women’s and lesbian rights, we are taking a potentially ground-breaking claim to the New Zealand Human Rights Review Tribunal on behalf of LAVA.
In 2021 Wellington Pride, the defendants in our case, denied LAVA a display of local lesbian history at the Pride fair. They said we would make trans people feel “unsafe” because LAVA asserts that men can’t be women and lesbians are same SEX attracted – not same gender attracted.
New Zealand is one of the countries most affected by the negative impacts of gender ideology. We have 10 times more young people on puberty blockers (per capita) than the UK does - even before they started restricting access on the recommendation of the Cass Review after 4 years of research. If this case is successful, it will be a turning point internationally as well.
It is estimated that the legal costs will be more than $NZ80,000. We have already managed to raise approximately 12% of our target. The two-week hearing is likely to be either late this year or early next year, so we are now fundraising in earnest.
We are seeking your support to promote our campaign for awareness and fund-raising.
If you can make a donation to support our cause, please do. Whether you are able to or not, please share the website link explaining our case with your friends and on your social media. lava.nz/our-case
Thank you for your support.
In solidarity
Hilary Oxley and Margaret Curnow from LAVA