Takatāpui, transgender, other rainbow young people are more likely to be involved with Oranga Tamariki, and spend time in the state care system, than the general population.
Over the past 2 years, we’ve worked with a number of rainbow organisations and advocates as part of a Community Design Team, facilitated by Point and Associates on behalf of Oranga Tamariki. We carried out research to discover what takatāpui and rainbow young people want Oranga Tamariki to know about their experiences of living in state care, and how they want the system to change.
The report, Making Ourselves Visible, launches 14 June 2023, and will be available on our website once it is launched.
Join the launch webinar
The launch webinar will be held 14 June 2023, from 12 noon to 1pm. You can register here.
The webinar will be led by care-experienced rainbow rangatahi and will include a panel discussion with members of the Community Design Team.
It will be held indoors at the Michael Fowler Centre, 111 Wakefield Street, Te Aro, Wellington.
Highlights for the day will include :
– heaps of amazing stalls – delicious food & drink – drag performers, entertainers, & more
We will have a stall with our new, limited edition, free booklets and resources on healthier relationships and safer sex, communication, managing trauma, and loving your body and self as a transgender and/or intersex person.
Wellington, Wairarapa, and Hutt Valley DHBs’ Sex and Gender Diverse Health Outcomes Working Group (SGDWG) is holding a community update hui, and separate but connected a survey about accessing gender affirming healthcare in these regions.
Annual community update hui
The SGDWG is run by the Capital and Coast, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa DHBs. It is made up of healthcare providers, DHB administrative staff, and transgender and intersex advocates (including GMA), and it’s job is working to improve access to gender affirming healthcare in those 3 DHBs.
The SGDWG is holding it’s annual community update hui on March 30th at 2pm to update the community on any new developments, and to answer any questions. This year the hui will be held online via Zoom.
Anyone is welcome to attend the online event, in which you will also have the opportunity to directly ask questions to the panelists.
Update!! The annual community update hui has been postponed – please follow our blog (in the main menu) to get updated by email when we have a new date.
If you have any questions about the SGDWG, please direct these to the co-chairs Andrew Marshall and Mani Mitchell.
Survey
This survey is about gender affirming healthcare services in the areas covered by the SGDWG.
It should take less than 10 minutes to complete.
The answers you give will be used to help the SGDWG to prepare for the hui, and to advocate for improvements to DHB services.
Who can take the survey
Transgender people and intersex people who have accessed, tried to access, or wanted to access healthcare in the 3 DHB areas. (Wairarapa, Hutt Valley and Capital & Coast DHB areas)
In this survey ‘transgender’ means anyone whose gender is different from the gender they were assigned at birth (e.g. trans man, non-binary person, fa’afafine).
Parents or guardians of transgender young people can also fill out the form on behalf of their dependants who are seeking access to gender affirming healthcare.
In this survey ‘intersex’ means anyone who has an intersex variation. Intersex variation, or VSC, is an umbrella term to describe people who have innate variations of sex characteristics from birth. Those with innate variations could have a range of variations in their chromosomes, hormones or internal and external physical traits.
Anonymity and contact
This survey is anonymous, so we will not ask for your name or contact details. If your answers contain information which would identify you, this will be kept confidential. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact us on genderminorities@gmail.com
Nau mai, haraemai ki te Well being and te moana: a snorkel event for trans youth in Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui – Taputeranga Marine Reserve Wellington, Feb 2022.
Join Gender Minorities Aotearoa and Mountains to Sea Wellington for an opportunity to connect, find calm, feel good, and have a heap of fun! We’ll be exploring the beautiful Taputeranga Marine Reserve on Wellington’s South coast, snorkeling with Mountains to Sea Wellington’s qualified snorkel instructors.
All instructions, support, health and safety management and equipment are supplied by Mountains to Sea Wellington. This includes a 5mm thick full length wetsuit and hood, mask, snorkel, fins and private change rooms. No prior experience necessary, we got you! This event is free to attend. If you want to bring a supportive friend or family member that’s totally welcome.
Our absolutely stellar snorkel guides will be on hand to guide you in your underwater adventures, getting you kitted out, answering any fishy questions you might have and generally looking after you whilst you take the plunge into the blue. This is an awesome opportunity to learn more about the fascinating array of sea creatures that seek shelter within the reserve’s protected boundaries right on our doorstep.
New snorkelers are of course encouraged, we love being able to facilitate peoples first snorkeling experiences. Don’t worry about equipment, we provide wetsuits, snorkels, flippers and masks. If you do have your own gear though, you are more than welcome to bring it along.
Once you register, you’re set to go! We will send you a reminder in January and make sure you’re all set. If we get more than 20 sign ups, we’ll create a waiting list for any future events and we’ll let you know in advance if you couldn’t get a place on the list this time.
Details
Who: a group of up to 20 transgender people, aged 24 and younger. Please note the minimum age for participation is 8 years old, and people aged under 16 must be accompanied by a snorkeling adult. Adults accompanying a young person will also need to register.
When: 11 February 2022, 3.30-6.30pm (if the weather is bad we’ll move to Feb 18)
Where: Taputeranga Marine Reserve, Wellington.
Cost: free.
What to bring: togs for under your wetsuit, a towel, sunhat, warm clothes and hopefully a sense of adventure!
You can find more information about our free transgender IPL club, clinics in other areas, and WINZ funding to help with treatment in other regions below. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, get in touch.
