They come in colours everywhere, they comb their hair, they’re like a rainbow.
Nelson Tasman’s vivacious LGBTQIA+ community is set to shine at the upcoming two-week Whakatū Pride Festival in the year which marks four decades after a major political storm became a rainbow.
The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 decriminalised homosexuality, a defining moment for the country’s progressive LGBT rights.
This will be saluted at the festival’s opening ceremony at the top of Trafalgar St on 18 April by Nelson queer elder Dennis Goodman.
More than 30 other events will then follow until 2 May with a focus on connection, visibility and wellbeing across the local LGBTQIA+ community.
Festival organiser and Whakatū Pride chair Emma Constantine says some events will honour the 1986 flagbearers legacy, while also acknowledging that the community must still stand today and secure allies to stand with them as unfinished business remains.
“Forty years seems like a long time ago, and we've come so far… but many people in the queer community have had some kind of experience of struggling to find belonging, and sometimes have experienced rejection because of their identity,” she stresses.
“So we know that mental health outcomes are poorer, especially for our rangatahi and for transpeople, and that's partly because of experiences of discrimination, stigma and isolation.
“So the importance of Whakatū Pride Festival is to communicate to people you're not alone, there are others who have similar experiences to you, there are others who are willing to lift you up and help you explore who you want to be as a person and that you can be valued and loved.”
Emma says Nelson-based charitable organisation Q Youth, which supports queer and trans youth, and Nelson transgender man Ari Edgecombe are among the event hosts.
She says most events are free and open to everyone.
“Most people, even if they are not part of the rainbow community themselves, will know and love someone who is, and so we want them to be part of and welcome in the celebrations as a way of expressing their support and love for the people in their lives,” she says.
“The pride movement is about freedom and freedom to be who you are, to be proud of who you are, and that is something that everybody in the community can celebrate.”
During the festival, Theatre Royal, Nelson Cathedral and the Nelson City Council Clock Tower will be lit in rainbow colours.
Local businesses are also encouraged to decorate their windows to show support and help signal that Nelson is a place where the LGBTQIA+ community belongs.
Asked about the possibility of opposition during the festival, Emma says those who object to Pride celebrations are “on the wrong side of history”.
“What we've actually found is that the best kind of remedy against people disrupting is having lots of good people and allies,” she says.
“We've been talking with the Nelson police, who are super supportive of us and of the festival and who are going to be present at the opening ceremony to support us.”
For the full list of events, visit https://whakatupride.co.nz/pride2026/. Businesses and organisations wishing to decorate their windows can register at https://whakatupride.co.nz/.
