HerStory Talk: Auckland as Queer Space

Please join us Thursday evening for warm drinks and mulled wine when we host Friederike Voit

presenting her research on queer space in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Friederike Voit is a third-year history student at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland

and recently completed a Summer Research Scholarship in the history of Tāmaki Makaurau through

the Auckland History Initiative. Her talk is based on this project focused on queer communities in the

city from the 1950s until Homosexual Law Reform in 1986. 

Friederike writes “Approaching this history from a spatial angle, I explored the private homes and

public venues which were occupied by queer people at this time. These spaces existed as vibrant and

inclusive enclaves in an otherwise hostile environment, a testament to the efforts of Auckland's

queer communities to make themselves at home. Yet their significance transcends that of a physical

location. When queer spaces united around the Homosexual Law Reform campaign, they brought

queer culture to the streets of Auckland in a form that we still recognise today”

This talk is held as part of First Thursdays on Karangahape Road. 

The Charlotte Museum will be open from 10am to 8pm on Thursdays 6 July 2023.