Since it was established in 2016, the NgāHui a teRōpūKaitohutohuTake HaporiIwi Takatāpui/ Rainbow Communities Advisory Panel has been effective in providing strategic advice to the Governing Body and also working with Council staff on incorporating Rainbow issues into key strategies and policies and supporting them to engage with Rainbow communities and work programmes to improve some of the challenges faced by Aucklanders who identify as LGBTTIQ+.

Auckland is a place where many key Rainbow communities and organisations thrive. For many seeking a place to belong, because of being Rainbow, it is their first contact with Rainbow society. Many Rainbow people living in more conservative areas of New Zealand move to Auckland.

While it is extremely hard to find any disaggregated statistics for Rainbow people, it is the commonly held view that, nationally, gay and lesbians are 10% of the population, transgender 1.2% and intersex people 2%. As Auckland is such a magnet for so many Rainbow people, the local statistics could be much higher.

It is therefore essential that a Rainbow lens is placed over key decisions made by and advice given to the Auckland Council. There is, at the time of writing, one elected openly gay councillor. They cannot be expected to hold the sole lens even with the support of a number of salaried staff who identify with various Rainbow communities.

September 2019