Winter Pride Feature 2023

WELCOME TO

WINTER PRIDE THAN EVER

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Rainbows at the ready... Winter Pride returns to Queenstown this week with a record 50-plus events on the calendar.

The annual 10-day bash runs from 25 August to 3 September this year, welcoming the LGBT+ community from across New Zealand, Australia and beyond, for the largest Pride festival in the Southern Hemisphere.

Festival owner and director Martin King, as always, wants the local community to get involved with the festivities too.

“My motto is always ‘there’s something for everyone on and off the snow’, King says.

“We have our first ever Pride Night Ski this year, which is just going to be awesome. We’ll have DJs and live drag shows up at Coronet Peak, and it is open to everyone who’s up the mountain. It’s a free event but obviously if you’re skiing, you’ll need a lift pass.

“Then, all our old favourites are back, our parties, our drag shows, some awesome community events, including the Remarkables Pride Winter Market and our charity colour fun run.

“We’ve got Sweat events, which are exercise events at Queenstown Events Centre, our big snow events, including the ski parade, the onesie day, which is our big ski day - lots of colour, lots of rainbows.”

Daily on-mountain events alternate between The Remarkables, Coronet Peak and Cardrona Alpine Resort, where the Pride Ski Flag Parade will be held on Saturday, 2 September, replacing the downtown Pride in the Park. The night ski is 1 September. Then, after the snow, there are après ski drinks at venues across town each day, before the ticketed Pride Party Series, including the Opening Party - High School Reunion, the Pride Dinner, Leather & Lace and the Propaganda Snowball.

Community events include the Frothy & Friends Cabaret, the Out to Lunch Business Lunch, cocktails nights, a comedy night, the Drag Brunch Club, Pride Park Run and the winter market.

King says it’s difficult to put a finger on how many people come to town for the festival.

“We know it’s in the thousands. We generally sell somewhere in the vicinity of 7000 tickets for our ticketed events, but obviously lots of people go to multiple events.”

Guest numbers are looking strong again this year, particularly from across the Tasman. Australians tend to stay on average seven to eight nights, but many come for a full 12 days. Domestic festivalgoers stay on average five to six nights.

“Our Australian numbers are fantastic again, so the one thing we need to do is to remind locals to grab their tickets to events and get involved. Now’s the time to start planning, the schedule is online, it’s all live, and events do sell out.”

King says many attendees come year after year, meeting up with friends in Queenstown from across Australia. “It’s a pretty special time of year.

He’s heard of no problems with people finding flights or accommodation this year, as the town bounces back from Covid.

“All those stresses have faded away. The recovery, the staff shortages, not to mention social distancing and expecting venue visits from the health inspectorate.

“I think the biggest issue for event organisers this year is the general rise in costs across the board, and the decision on how much of that we soak up versus passing it on to our guests.

“Trying to get the ticket pricing right is always a challenge but sales are solid.

“The other stress for Queenstown is the snow, but we’re normally pretty lucky with where our festival falls. We usually get a really good snowfall before and generally quite good weather.”

King says New Zealand doesn’t experience the same anti-trans and anti-drag movement which is taking hold in the USA.

“We don’t see that at all. Fortunately, the conversation is moving in the opposite direction from the US, where there is a very well-funded and loud backlash, which is really tragic and sad.

“There are still challenges but what we see with Pride Pledge, which is obviously the sibling organisation to Pride, is more and more organisations really committed to actually making a difference.

“It continues to go from strength to strength. We’re delivering more training and more services, and working with more organisations every day.

“Yes, there are some loud voices, but they’ve always been there, and actually, they’re a real minority. Most people in New Zealand, and most organisations, are really committed to change.”

In the recent Ipsos Global Advisor | LGBT+ Pride 2023 survey, some 84% of Kiwis agreed “transgender people should be protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and access to businesses such as restaurants and stores”, the joint highest percentage of all countries.

Some 2% of Kiwis are trans, while 10% of Kiwis are lesbian/gay/ homosexual, bisexual, pansexual/omnisexual, or Asexual.

“And the other stat that came out is 61% of New Zealanders have a friend or family member who is from the LGBT+ community, the second highest in the world. That drives allyship - ‘my mate’s queer, or trans, or gay, so is my workmate, my flatmate’, so we don’t experience those phobias you see in the US.

“LGBT people are visible here and connected to our communities.” They’ll certainly be visible in Queenstown.

“It’s going to be colourful and an awesome atmosphere as usual. The street flags and the buzz will come and hopefully more snow too,” King says.

Paul Taylor

Pride week Celebration classes

We’re wanting to have some fun and celebrate with our LGBTQ+ community so we’re holding some special classes during Pride Week.

WELCOME TO WINTER PRIDE

RPM: Saturday 26 August at 10.15am with Aaron

RPM: Monday 28 August at 7.15pm with Aaron

TONE: Wednesday 30 August at 5.30pm with Jake

when booking

Visit qldc.govt.nz/groupfitness to book!

$8 Special casualrate For the s e classes !

Twenty years ago, the very first Winter Pride, then known as Gay Ski week, Apple iPad, Tik Tok, fit bits, no Instagram, actually even the iPhone was still would be 10 years until same sex marriage was legalised in New Zealand. In other words, our little pride ski festival has been on Queenstown festival and technology change. Mike, my husband and I bought the festival back in thus changing its name to Winter Pride and that’s also proven to be an enormously There have been great strides for LGBTQIA+ acceptance over that time Queenstown provides, the party would probably have stopped a long time for the ten days they are here. Within that environment it’s easy to assume of the queer community’s existence but it’s not and tolerance is regressing. weren’t around twenty years ago, never came into existence as online platforms means that the queer community is facing a fight to retain some of those For a number who will be in Queenstown this week for Winter Pride this is community. Some will have come from places where their existence will be Zealand there will be visitors who won’t feel safe enough to be themselves local businesses that are partners in the Pride Pledge or who just put out here.

Winter Pride kicks off later this week with 50 events, ten more than last year, every year. There are ski days, drag shows, games nights and free community hopefully make new friends and have a laugh.

Winter Pride is one of Queenstown’s major festivals contributing to its economic how true that this is indeed the festival in a small town with a bold heart, Queenstown!!

qldc.govt.nz/recreation

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

by QLDC Library

Embark on a WP23 literary journey with QLDC Library’s handpicked book recommendations. From enthralling fiction to enlightening non-fiction, there’s something for every reader to explore and enjoy.

30 Queer Lives: Conversations with LGBTQIA+ New Zealanders by Matt

McEvoy

Identity, understanding and celebration through the stories of 30 remarkable New Zealanders, 30 Queer Lives explores the lives, struggles and successes of LGBTQIA+ New Zealanders society, from north to south and from soldiers, celebrities, lawyers, drag queens, businesspeople and Olympians to farmers and fa`afafine. From the famous - Grant Robertson, Gareth Farr, Chloee Swarbrick - to the less well known, these 30 stories encourage empathy and understanding, challenge stereotypes, and offer courage and hope

Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez

An essential and revelatory coming-of-age narrative from a thrilling new voice, Rainbow Milk follows nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities against the backdrop of his Jehovah’s Witness upbringing. A wholly original novel as tender as it is visceral, this novel is a bold reckoning with race, class, sexuality, freedom and religion across generations, time and cultures.

@QLDCSportRec

PRIDE 2023

week, was just getting started. There was no still 4 years away from being a thing and it festival schedule and witnessed huge social in 2018 with the idea of broadening it out, enormously successful step forward. and without the broad community support time ago. Queenstown ensures visitors feel safe assume that acceptance and openness is a normal part regressing. In some ways it would have been nice if some of the technologies that platforms have provided a megaphone for hate and conspiracy theories that hard-fought rights in what we see as very liberal communities. is the one time of the year, where they will feel freedom and love across a be illegal or marginalised. Even in Australia and yes in some corners of New themselves at home or in their place of work. It’s one reason I am so proud of all the the pride flag out to says to the festival guest, welcome and you are safe year, there are over 5,000 tickets sold and events will sell out like they do community events where Queenstown locals come and have a terrific time and

economic and cultural growth. I am immensely proud of that and proud of heart, but I don’t take it for granted, none of us ever should. Now let’s Party

Martin King, Director

You’re That B*tch: & Other Cute Stories About Being Unapologetically Yourself

You’re That Bitch welcomes you into Bretman Rock’s world—from how his childhood in the Philippines, his family, Filipino culture, and being a first-generation immigrant helped shape him into who he is today. Peek into how Bretman became a social media sensation at the precocious age of 14, balancing living a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle on weekends while still serving lunch at his school’s cafeteria, running as a varsity track-star, and making honor roll during the week

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn’t hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness. A whipsmart debut about three women—transgender and cisgender— whose lives collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires around gender, motherhood, and sex

Pageboy by Elliot Page

Pageboy is a groundbreaking coming-of-age memoir from the Academy Award-nominated actor Elliot Page. A generation-defining actor and one of the most famous trans advocates of our time, Elliot will now be known as an uncommon literary talent, as he shares never-before-heard details and intimate interrogations on gender, love, mental health, relationships, and Hollywood

P R I D E PRIDE WINTER

All are welcome to join!

Sunday, August 27

MOUNTAIN DU JOUR

Tuesday, August 29

MOUNTAIN DU JOUR

Thursday, August 31

ONESIE DAY

Saturday, September 2

PRIDE PARADE SKI DAY