PĀNUI
NEWS
Pride Month 2026 @ HWT.
23 / 03 / 2026
On Monday 23 March, He Waka Tapu came together to celebrate Pride Month 2026 with a special event that brought joy, colour, and connection to our whānau.
Staff and community members gathered to uplift and honour our Rainbow and Takatāpui community in the most fitting way, through movement, laughter, and shared kai.
The heart of the celebration was a Dance for Pride session facilitated by Davida, a proud member of our community whose lifelong passion for dancing was on full display. Davida led everyone through some wonderful line dancing, and the energy in the room was something truly special. Watching whānau of all backgrounds step in time together, rainbow flags flying, was a powerful reminder of what this kaupapa is all about.
The connection and engagement throughout the day was beautiful. Pride is about inclusion, and events like this are how we actively enhance the mana of our Rainbow community by showing up, taking part, and celebrating together. Seeing every person in the room participate, dressed in bright and colourful outfits or simply as themselves, reflected exactly the spirit of welcome and belonging that Pride calls us to embody.
We wrapped up the event sharing kai together, which felt like the perfect way to close a celebration rooted in community and whānau.
Pride Month in Aotearoa New Zealand is celebrated in March to commemorate the introduction of the Homosexual Law Reform Act in March 1985, a landmark moment in our nation's history. Aotearoa's pride movement has deep roots, emerging in the early 1970s sparked by activist Ngāhuia Te Awekotuku, and growing into the vibrant festivals we know today following the law reform in 1986. Importantly, pride here also carries a distinctly Māori dimension. Before colonisation, Māori society traditionally recognised gender fluidity and same-sex relationships, and modern pride celebrations in Aotearoa often include the reclaiming of these Takatāpui perspectives and identities.
He Waka Tapu is proud to stand with our Rainbow and Takatāpui whānau, not just in March, but always. We would like to thank Davida for coming along to share her gift of dance and movement with us and all our kaimahi and community in attendance.
