People Against Prisons Aotearoa

8 posts tagged nzpol

Why you should oppose the prison construction at Waikeria

The government has only one response to the booming prison population: more prison beds. Over the next few years, it plans to expand prison capacity by 1,800. The main way it will try to do this is by building a whole new prison on the same site as the existing Waikeria Prison. That prison would be the largest in New Zealand, housing more than 1,500 people.

The government’s response is absolutely futile. It impotently locks away people who have committed crimes, unwilling to address the social problems which cause crime itself. Instead of dealing with the fundamental inequalities, it abandons thousands of people to a prison system that is riddled with violence. Prisons subject very vulnerable people to an environment that makes them more mentally unwell, more likely to attempt suicide, and more likely to be sexually assaulted. Increasing the prison capacity increases the total number of people who will become victims of the violence of prisons.

Building more prisons also costs billions of dollars. Those are billions of dollars that could be spent on education, housing and healthcare. Instead of building more prisons, the government could be spending money on healthcare services for people who struggle with mental illness and drug problems. It could be addressing the drivers of crime, especially entrenched poverty and unemployment.

To make matters worse, the land that the new prison would stand on was stolen from the Ngāti Maniapoto hapu Ngāti Kaputuhi. In 1910, the Governor-General stole by proclamation the land known as the “Tokanui Block”. This land included Ngāti Kaputuhi’s marae Waiaruhe. As Te Runanga o Ngati Maniapoto notes, “Kaputuhi have been displaced from their lands for well over 100 years while corporate shysters enrich themselves by the cultural genocide of Ngati Maniapoto hapu.” We support the right of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Kaputuhi to mana motuhake over their rohe. We oppose the construction of the new prison at Waikeria, and support returning the land that it sits on.

If the government’s only solution to the overcrowding crisis is to build capacity, we suggest another solution. Instead of building more prisons in response to increasing numbers of prisoners, we should be reducing the number of prisons. As we have argued elsewhere, the overcrowding crisis is caused by a change of policy that meant more people on remand ended up in prison. We can significantly reduce the number of people in prison by demanding the repeal of this policy.

Rather than building another prison at Waikeria, the land should be returned to Ngāti Maniapoto. Rather than increasing the prison population, we must do everything we can to reduce it. Action is needed now to make this happen. In the coming months and years, the movement to stop the Waikeria prison expansion will require your involvement. That starts with the 10,000 Too Many hīkoi on the 11th of February at Aotea Square in Auckland. Your action is needed now to stop the government from spending billions of dollars on new prisons. We have to stop this prison construction project now. Not one more cell!


By Ti Lamusse and Emilie Rākete

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One easy way to reduce the prison population

New Zealand’s prison population hit a record 10,000 for the first time in November 2016. New Zealand has never had more people in prison than it does today. This booming prison population, and the overcrowding crisis it has caused, did not happen by accident. It did not happen because of increasing crime rates.[1] It did not happen because cops are catching more “bad guys”. It happened because the government just decided to imprison more people.

On September 4, 2013, the Bail Amendment Act came into effect. The purpose of this law is simple: to lock up more people on remand. Remand is the period of time between being charged with something and being sentenced. The majority of people imprisoned on remand have not been found guilty of anything and may never be found guilty. The law made it much harder to get bail, which has led to many more people being remanded in prison.

According to data I’ve collated between December 2013 and December 2016, the remand population has skyrocketed since the Bail Amendment Act came into effect. Before the new law, the prison population was actually falling for the first time in decades. Since the law came into effect, the prison muster has increased by about 1,700 people, an increase of 20.6%. This has been almost entirely due to an increase in the remand population. The number of people in prison on remand alone has risen by more than 1,200, a 78.4% increase.

These law changes haven’t affected all parts of the prison population equally. The changes have disproportionately impacted women and Māori prisoners. The women’s prison population has increased at twice the rate of the men’s prison population. The number of women on remand has more than doubled, now 112.4% higher than it was before the Act came into effect.

While both Māori and Pākeha prison populations have increased substantially over the past three years, the Māori prison population has grown about one and a half times faster than the Pākeha prison population. There are approximately 900 more Māori in prison since this law came into effect, increasing by about 22%. The majority of the increase in the prison population has been Māori, and Māori now make up a larger percentage of the total prison population than three years ago.

More people are now being imprisoned for poverty-related offences of dishonesty, which includes solo mums who are convicted of ‘benefit fraud’ just for trying to put food on the table for their kids.[2] While the Bail Amendment Act isn’t the sole cause of New Zealand’s astounding imprisonment rate, as we were already locking up a ridiculous number of people before it, it has contributed to a massive increase in the prison population. This has led to more poor people, women and Māori in prison than ever before, making this law a racist, sexist law that serves the interests of the rich.

The Bail Amendment Act needs to be repealed immediately. Although there are many drivers behind New Zealand’s booming prison population, including harsh parole and racist drug laws, the repeal of the Bail Amendment Act is the first step toward undoing the worst of the violence of prison overcrowding and mass incarceration. This government policy will not be changed on its own. It requires a groundswell of people who are willing to say that they’re not going to put up with this any more. You can be a part of this movement. Join us at noon on February 11 at Aotea Square for the 10,000 Too Many hīkoi. We will be demanding the immediate repeal of the Bail Amendment Act and an end to the injustices it has produced. Make your voice heard now. Stand up for justice and demand the repeal of the Bail Amendment Act.


By Ti Lamusse

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[1] Crime rates are lower than they were three years ago.

[2] As the Child Poverty Action Group notes, ‘benefit fraud’ is a broad category that is used to criminalise solo mothers, regardless of whether they intended to commit ‘fraud’ or if the ‘fraud’ occurred because of bureaucratic incompetency.

Why New Zealand prisons are in crisis and what you can do about it

New Zealand’s prisons are in crisis. Plain and simple. There have never been more people in prison at any point and it is only expected to get worse. Late last year, for the first time, the prison population hit a whopping 10,000 and is expected to remain above 10,000 for the foreseeable future.

This means that the government is planning to spend billions of dollars on imprisoning thousands more people than it did even four years ago. It is planning a $1 billion spending spree to pay for a new prison at Waikeria and massive expansions elsewhere. Meanwhile, it is housing more prisoners in double-bunked cells, where there are two or more people in a cell overnight. Data released to No Pride in Prisons shows that a quarter of all cells are now double-bunked. Many of those cells were never built for two people and the prisons cannot cope with the huge increase in prisoner numbers.

This overcrowding crisis has had a very serious impact on people in prison. Internationally, double-bunking has been consistently shown to increase rates of misconduct, self-harm, suicide, and violence, including sexual violence. Prisoners who have contacted No Pride in Prisons confirm this. They have told us how in double-bunked cells all of your privacy disappears. You often have to eat, sleep, and defecate in the same room as another person and you are rarely, if ever, allowed moments just to yourself.

To make matters even worse, two prisoners have contacted No Pride in Prisons saying that their cell-mates raped them. Double-bunked cells put people at incredible risk of intimidation, exploitation, and violence at the hands of their cellmates. Instead of making plans to reduce and eventually end the practice of double-bunking, the Department of Corrections every couple of months increases the number of double-bunked cells in response to the booming prison population.

The overcrowding crisis is one of the core drivers of worsening conditions in New Zealand prisons. Prisoners have reported that levels of violence are increasing. In a recent survey, 46% of prisoners at Manawatu Prison told the Ombudsmen they had been assaulted while in prison. Prisoners have also reported extremely poor healthcare. Across the board, prisoners have said that they experience long waiting times to see doctors and dentists, and that the care they receive is often poor. One prisoner told No Pride in Prisons that she has waited months in pain to see a doctor. She asked to see a doctor in August 2016 and as of February 2017, she has still not seen one!

Because of the overcrowding crisis, prisoners are spending more and more time in their cells. Many prisoners are kept in their cells for upwards of 20 hours per day, and a large number spend 22-23 hours per day in their cells. Many prisoners do not get access to fresh air every day. Corrections justifies this mistreatment, in part, by saying that the extremely high prison population makes it practically impossible for all prisoners to get a decent amount of time out of their cells and time in the fresh air.

These problems did not come out of nowhere. In September 2013, the Bail Amendment Act came into effect. The Act made it much harder for many people to get bail. As a result, the remand prison population, or that part of the prison population which has either not been convicted or sentenced for any crime, has skyrocketed. Prisoners on remand made up approximately 72% of the total increase in the prison population since the Act came into effect, and the remand population alone has risen by more than 1200 people.

Given its current trajectory, we can expect that this problem is only going to get worse. If something doesn’t change now, there will be thousands more people in prison. There will be thousands more people who will have to go through the violence and mistreatment that the overcrowding crisis has produced. Urgent action is needed undo the worst of this crisis. This is a crisis caused by government policy – by the Bail Amendment Act. With enough public pressure, policy can be changed.

We must do everything in our power to get the Bail Amendment Act repealed. We need to make our voices as loud as possible. We need a huge mass of people to show that we won’t stand for the government’s policy of mass incarceration anymore. Tough on crime means tough on people and this government has locked away more people than ever before. If you believe that we need to end the overcrowding crisis as soon as possible, then join the movement calling for the end of the Bail Amendment Act. Turn up at noon on February 11 for the 10,000 Too Many hīkoi from Auckland’s Aotea Square to Mt Eden Prison. We need to urgently send the message that enough is enough and it is time to stop this injustice. 

By Ti Lamusse

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PRESS RELEASE: No Pride in Prisons Joins Resistance to State Housing Evictions

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Members of prison abolitionist organisation No Pride in Prisons will be joining the Tāmaki Housing Group today to resist the eviction state housing tenant of Ioela “Niki” Rauti.

Its spokesperson Emilie Rākete says, “No Pride in Prisons is proud to join our friends and whānau in protecting Niki’s right to a home. We will be joining dozens of others in occupying Niki’s land and refusing to move until she is guaranteed the right to stay in her home.”

Rauti was served with a 90-day eviction notice, which expired on the 18th of January. The police has warned that she will be physically moved on today from 9:30am. “We intend to put our bodies on the line to stop this eviction,” says Rākete.

No Pride in Prisons believes the eviction is unjust. “One of the most frustrating things about this whole process is that it never used to be like this. State housing tenants, including Niki, were told for decades that their houses were for life.”

“The government introduced reviewable tenancies just so it could kick out state housing tenants and make some money from their eviction.”

Rauti’s house is owned by the Tāmaki Regeneration Company (TRC), which was transferred ownership from Housing New Zealand as a part of the Tāmaki redevelopment. TRC wants to develop the land that her house sits on.

“While the government and the council say these evictions are necessary to keep house prices down, we’ve seen a huge increase in house prices in the area since the redevelopments began.”

“The government is effectively kicking out old and poor people and making room for the rich. Niki’s eviction is just one part of a broader plan to undermine state housing and transfer land to the wealthy,” says Rākete.

The organisation is worried about how the move might impact Niki’s health and well-being. “Niki is an elderly woman who has a heart condition. One of the saddest parts of the Tāmaki redevelopment has been the effect on the elderly. Often, following eviction from life-long homes, elderly tenants have passed away shortly after being relocated.”

No Pride in Prisons is also concerned about the police involvement in evicting Niki. According to Rākete, “The police will do everything it can to make sure that this blatantly unjust process continues. Niki is a respected kuia, but the police intend to remove her from her home by force.”

“We oppose both Niki’s eviction and the violence we expect to see from police in order to make it happen.”

“We believe that Niki and all other tenants deserve healthy, warm and affordable homes, and the stability of knowing they won’t be evicted every time the government wants to make a buck.”

“We support the Tāmaki Housing Group and all those resisting the sell-off of state houses and the eviction of state housing tenants. This injustice is part of a broader program by this and previous governments to undermine support for poor and working class people.”

“No Pride in Prisons stands in solidarity with those fighting for safe and secure housing for all.”

Which side are you on?

The queer community in Aotearoa is at a turning point. It is fundamentally divided. Some of us are happy with the status quo and some of us demand more. On the one side, there are those who are complacent with the astounding rates of incarceration of Māori, with the violence of police officers and with the rape of incarcerated trans women. On the other side, there are those who stand in solidarity with all the queer and trans people who have been left behind by a community more concerned with rainbow-coloured flags at Pride parades than the suffering of their people.

Pride started with a moment of rupture, where our predecessors stepped out of the shadows and rioted against police brutality. At its emergence, Pride was nothing if not political. Those proud rioters demanded an end to violently policed norms of gender and sexuality. They fought in the street against anyone who thought they had the right to tell them not to.

Shamefully, Pride has become something else. It has become a corporatised pinkwashed event where institutions like the police and corrections, which do untold violence to the most vulnerable members of the queer community, can show themselves off as so-called beacons of gay rights. Organisations like ANZ and the University of Auckland, both of which impose unfair pay and conditions on their workers, appropriate pride in a lolly scramble for pink dollars. Theirs is a hollow beacon of progress built from the co-option of our struggle.

There are some comfortable queers who say “things have really changed” and that police and prisons are better now, that the police is not the same institution that used to round up suspected homosexuals in nightclubs and throw them in jail. Unfortunately, the police and prisons are still racist, homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic institutions. According to their own 2015 report, which is likely to under-report rates of violence, New Zealand Police used force against Māori at a rate nearly eight times that of Pākehā. The New Zealand Police also used tasers against Māori and Pasifika at a rate higher than it used tasers against Pākehā.

In the last four months alone, No Pride in Prisons has been in touch with two of our incarcerated trans sisters who have been raped in custody. Corrections hasn’t done a thing to end this sexual violence. It continues to place two people in a single cell overnight, putting those incarcerated people at extraordinary risk of sexual and other violence. In fact, it plans on exposing more prisoners to violence by expanding this practice of double-bunking. Why should we pretend that Corrections is anything but a racist and rape-facilitating arm of the state? We see through the pinkwashing, we acknowledge the suffering these institutions cause - do you?

Queers in Aotearoa have a legacy of insurgency. It is our responsibility to continue this struggle and perpetuate it - to destroy those things which are destroying the lives of the most marginalised members of our community. In Aotearoa, in 2016, the prison system is destructive. Police are destructive. We bear responsibilities, as those who carry on the work begun by those radical queers who came before us and who are with us still, not to be fooled. Violence wrapped in a rainbow flag is still violence. Racism covered in glitter is still racism.

Some say that Pride is just a celebration, that it’s supposed to celebrate how far ‘we’ have come. We ask, who is this ‘we’? When we celebrate, who are we leaving behind? When we invite these institutions to the party, we are siding with the forces who have wanted us in the closet, in a cell, or dead. How ever far we may have come, it has been in spite of police and prisons. These institutions always have been and always will be the enemies of queer liberation and universal liberation.

We look around and see soaring rates of homelessness and unemployment among young trans and queer people. We see daily acts of discrimination and violence against those who do not fit into a colonial gender model. We hear of rape and other violence done to incarcerated queer and non-queer people. This is not a time to celebrate. This is a time to demand action.

Our argument is simple: you can choose to side with corrections and the police or with the marginalised; with the oppressors or the oppressed; with the status quo or with change; with the institutions that hurt people or with the people they are hurting. The Auckland Pride Board has chosen its side, so what about you?


Written by T Lamusse, S Vella and E Rākete 

Gay Cops are Still Cops

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Over the past couple of weeks, No Pride in Prisons has placed increasing pressure on the Pride Board, and the Auckland queer community more generally, to ban uniformed police officers from the pride parade. As we now know, the Pride Board chose to disregard legitimate concerns with that institution being included. A common response to these concerns, from uncritical members of the community, has been: “What about the gay cops? Aren’t they a part of our community? Who are you to ban members of the community?”

To that, we ask: What is the queer community? The decision as to whether police can march in a pride parade is the kind of decision which determines what kind of community we are. Are we a community of marginalised peoples? Are we a community which cares about other marginalised peoples? Or, are we more concerned with consolidating the privileges of the most privileged within our ‘community’?

Cops have no place in any queer community made up of marginalised peoples. This is because it is the role of the police to uphold the privileges of the powerful, and maintain the marginalisation of the oppressed. How do they do this? As an institution, the New Zealand Police has admitted that it has an ‘unconscious bias’ against Māori. This is played out in the New Zealand Police apprehending and charging Māori at a rate that far surpasses that of Pākehā for the same crimes.

Police target and oppress other and overlapping marginalised peoples as well. You may have seen police harassing homeless people or people they suspect of being sex workers. No Pride in Prisons has received reports from trans women who have been violently assaulted by police and arrested for the supposed crime of “walking while trans”. The police’s targeting and criminalisation of certain groups is part of what makes and maintains their marginalisation. Community is required so that those on the margins can continue to survive. In other words, the police’s actions make the community necessary. As a result, cops are not and never will be part of a community of marginalised peoples.

You may be thinking: “not all cops are bad! I’m sure the vast majority of them aren’t racists!” We are sure that not all cops think that they are actively racist as individuals. All cops, however, work for an institution which has been proven time and time again to be racist and oppressive. Cops put on a uniform every day. That uniform is a symbol of the side that they have chosen, and that side engages in racist and oppressive violence on a mass scale. An individual cop may not think that their actions are discriminatory in any way (‘they are just doing their jobs!’), however, when you add up all the individual actions of individual cops, they amount to an institution that maintains racist colonial cisheteropatriarchal capitalism.

It is for this reason that it is offensive and complicitly oppressive to allow uniformed police to march in any pride parade. In doing so, the queer community becomes a group of historically marginalised peoples taking the side of an oppressive institution which targets marginalised peoples. Those ‘other’ marginalised peoples are also a part of our community: Māori queers, homeless queers, queer sex workers, only to name a few. In allowing the police to march with us, we are siding with an institution which oppresses our people.

“But you’re banning gay cops, who are part of the community!”. To this, we say: if banning representation of police and Corrections is to be understood as unfairly excluding members of our community, what of the queers suffering in custody right now? What of the trans women who have been beaten or raped by uniformed members of these organisations? What of the Māori who are targeted at every stage of the criminal justice system, which includes Māori queers? Is Pride not for them?

So, which side are you on? You can either stand with the marginalised, or with the oppressors; those subject to violence, or the violent. Gay cops, although they are gay, are still cops. If you stand with them, you’re standing with the oppressors.


Written by S Morgan, T Lamusse, and E Rākete

No Pride in Prisons is holding a “Fuck Pride” rally in protest to the inclusion of uniformed police and corrections officers in the 2016 pride parade. For more information, click here.

PRESS RELEASE: Pride Board’s Decision to Allow Police and Corrections in 2016 Pride Parade “Shameful”

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Queer and trans group No Pride in Prisons is condemning the Auckland Pride Board for choosing to allow Police and Corrections Officers to march in this year’s parade.

The Auckland Pride Board announced their decision yesterday, reasoning that the Department of Corrections will be taking steps over the coming year to improve its treatment of transgender prisoners.

No Pride in Prisons’ spokesperson, Sophie Morgan, says that this is not nearly enough. “To this date, the Department of Corrections has shown a blatant disregard for the treatment of all incarcerated people, especially queer and trans prisoners.”

“This year alone, No Pride in Prisons has heard from multiple transgender inmates who have been either raped or brutally attacked while in Corrections’ custody.”

The group points to an incident late last year where a trans woman was raped after being placed in a cell overnight with a man.

“Corrections has introduced policies such as double-bunking, where two or more inmates are housed overnight in a single cell. These policies have directly led to the rape of trans women and other prisoners,” says Morgan.

“Corrections has proven, time and time again, that it has no regard for the safety or bodily autonomy of inmates.”

No Pride in Prisons is concerned that the Pride Board may be getting ahead of itself in making this controversial decision.

“Corrections is being rewarded for making vague promises to improve the safety of trans prisoners. It is not enough to reward the Department for making promises it has yet to fulfil. Ultimately, the Department is unlikely to make good on these promises, as up until now it has denied that it has a problem.”

No Pride in Prisons says the problems with prisons and police go much deeper than the Pride Board is willing to address.

“The fact of the matter is that prisons and police are violent, racist institutions that have no place in any pride parade.”

No Pride in Prisons says that at every stage of the criminal justice system, Māori are discriminated against. Morgan says, “Police have recently admitted that they have an ‘unconscious bias’ against Māori.”

“Māori are more likely to be apprehended, charged, convicted and sentenced to incarceration than Pākeha. This is because Māori are targeted and discriminated against by police and the criminal justice system more generally.”

“In a report of its own making, New Zealand Police found that it uses force against Māori at 8 times the rate it does Pākehā. Māori make up 15% of the general population of Aotearoa, and roughly 50% of the prison population.”

“These are not unusual statistics. The prisons and police of a colonising government will always be used to repress the indigenous population. These institutions are designed for the social control of marginalised peoples.”

“The Auckland Pride Board may want to believe that there are no Māori queer people or that there are no queer or trans prisoners. That’s just not the case. As marginalised people, we have an obligation to stand with those who are being oppressed.”

“However, the Board and the Auckland queer community are actively choosing to side with institutions that have inflicted untold violence on Aotearoa’s most vulnerable populations.”

“The Auckland queer community should be ashamed that it is being represented by those who choose to stand with inherently violent institutions. It is shameful that the community is turning its back on the marginalised groups most targeted by police and the prison system.”

In 2015, No Pride in Prisons disrupted the parade in protest of police and corrections’ inclusion. This year, the group plans to hold a counter-rally at the same time as the parade.

“We are encouraging those in the queer community who are ashamed of what Pride has become to boycott the parade and stand in solidarity with Aotearoa’s most marginalised people.”

Link to the Facebook Event

Violent Police Officers are ‘just doing their job’, and that’s why they should be banned from Pride

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On Thursday 4th February 2016, tens of thousands of people from across Aotearoa marched, chanted, sang, rallied, and blockaded, putting their bodies on the line in opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). It was, hands down, one of the biggest and most successful days of civil disobedience in this country for decades. Auckland was on lockdown. The people’s message was clear: TPPA? No way.

The protesters’ agenda for the day was also clear: non-violent civil disobedience in a display of unforgiving opposition to the trade deal. It seems that the New Zealand Police did not get the memo. As protesters have explained to media outlets, and on social media, the only violence they experienced that day was at the hands of the police.

That police violence included pulling protesters by their hair, throwing them on the ground, and beating them with batons and fists. It involved twisting arms and, in one instance, pushing a protester’s neck at such an angle that it seemed they were trying to break it. Police have also been pictured choking protesters with illegal holds.


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While this violence is significant, it should in no way detract from the organised and impressive work of the protesters who unapologetically conveyed their message. That violence should also not be taken to be exceptional: police violence is commonplace at peaceful demonstrations. This instance wasn’t as bad as the extremely brutal crackdown on students protesting the 2012 budget, for example.


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Those brave (or perhaps foolish) enough to read the comments on news websites, Facebook, and other social media about the TPPA protests were pummeled with misogynistic, racist, homophobic, and generally bigoted comments. Amongst these was one recurring comment that is particularly important to the Auckland queer community as it decides whether to include police in the 2016 Pride Parade. As many noted, the police were ‘just doing their job’.

The commenters are correct: this is the police doing their job. It is the job of the police to serve the state, no matter how corrupt or undemocratic the practices of that state. This protection is carried out with whatever aggression deemed necessary. On Thursday, it was the job of the police to deal violence to those protesting the absolute evasion of the democratic process in signing the TPPA. This is because it is the police’s job to unconditionally protect and serve the state.

The majority of police violence, however, does not occur when the people stand up in organised public demonstration. It occurs out of a lot of people’s sight. Police violence is ever-present and concentrated in brown and black communities, indigenous communities, and poor communities. For the people in these communities, police violence is never out of sight. It is no mistake or coincidence that these constant instances of violence go largely unreported. They reveal the true function of the police in a colonial, capitalist society: to repress the oppressed.

If we accept that the police’s role in this society is to maintain public order, then the maintenance of that order is inherently violent. In the current order of things, there is a small elite who benefit largely from an economic and social system that structurally privileges the few at the expense of the many. Actions against the dominant order, such as the demand for tino rangatiratanga, require a fundamental re-ordering of Aotearoa. As such, the maintenance of the current order is achieved partly through the incarceration of Māori at a rate almost five times greater than the colonisers.

If the world we live in is racist, misogynistic, transphobic, and homophobic, then those who are responsible for maintaining order in this system are also inherently racist, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic, and undeniably violent. If Pride is supposed to be an event that challenges the entrenched cisheterormativity of everyday life, then the inclusion of the police is absolutely incompatible with Pride.

So, we have some questions for the Auckland Pride Board and the queer community more generally: is it over? Now that marriage ‘equality’ has been won, is that the end of queer politics? Do the lives and oppression of the poor, indigenous, and other people of colour not matter? Do you not care that there are members of the queer community who are disproportionately targeted by the police and incarcerated? Do you not care that it is the job of the police to sustain the system which oppresses the vast majority of us?

Ongoing issues of racism, transmisogyny, systemic inequality and poverty cannot be ignored by a community that was, not too long ago, feeling the full weight of police and societal violence. The fact that a rich gay couple can now have a ‘normal’ life in the gentrified suburb of Ponsonby doesn’t mean that the fight is over.

In fact, it is far from over. The only reason that the police are no longer systematically beating and jailing people for engaging in non-normative sexuality and gender practices is because thousands of people took to the streets and demanded the decriminalisation of sodomy. It is not because the police have ethically evolved. If you choose to include cops in the parade, you are siding with the oppressor.

Written by T Lamusse and S Morgan