Rainbow+ community in Hastings counter hate with peace and love

Discriminatory abuse hurled at the Rainbow community in Hawkes Bay has resulted in event cancellations and vandalism.

This comes after members from the Destiny Church led a series of targeted attacks on the LGBTQIA+ communities in Gisborne and Auckland last week, including painting over rainbow crossings with white paint.

This has created a snowball-effect where homophobic and anti-LGBTQIA+ people have picketed outside of libraries in protest against Drag Queen story reading to children.

With threats of a protest to take place at Hastings Library, council’s decision was to cancel the Rainbow storytime and instead a Peace and Love action event was put on by the Hastings Rainbow community to show their “peaceful presence”.

Hastings residents Annie Kaio and Shaqaila Uelese joined Pacific Mornings to speak about how the Pacific Rainbow community is coping with these targeted attacks.

Kaio, the reigning Miss Samoa Fa’afafine and the Samoa Fa’afafine Association Ambassador says the protests have triggered vicious social media attacks.

“Just seeing all the negative comments all around New Zealand it did kind of make us feel out of place.

“However, seeing everyone come together and standing with our beliefs with who we are as a community brought me comfort.”

Co-Executive Director of the Nevertheless Trust Shaqaila Uelese says attacks on LGBTQIA+ communities aren't new but they will continue to advocate for peace and love.

“Some find it really intimidating, some don’t take threats of violence lightly because of their personal experiences of bullying and discrimination.

“However, for those of us who were brought up in (a) faith, these are conversations that we’ve had to have with our families. For us as Samoan and Pasifika we have our values of alofa, aiga, and tautua. And in times like these we should always hold strong to those.”

Watch the full interview with Annie Kaio and Shaqaila Uelese below.