50 Years of Pride: Protest and Parades in the Modern Era 1972-2022 .

This year we acknowledge and celebrate the 50th anniversary since Aotearoa’s first ‘Gay Day’ in April 1972, a protest by the newly formed Gay Liberation group, led by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku in Auckland’s Albert Park. It was a courageous act by a small group of people and the catalyst that bought our communities and the fight for rights out into the open. This action coincided with a growing international Gay Liberation Movement, an emerging radical counterculture in Aotearoa, the second wave of feminism with protesting of women’s rights, the Vietnam war, French nuclear testing, apartheid in South Africa and Māori land rights, racism and society’s oppressive systems. Since then, Pride has morphed into a month-long festival celebrating our diverse LGBTI+ communities across Auckland and includes key events like the Big Gay Out, Our March and the Pride Gala.

The Charlotte Museum will exhibit items and images from our collections celebrating and sharing the story of Pride and will give a talk about the exhibit and this history on Saturday 29 October from 2 - 3pm at the Pt Chevalier Library.