- Source: List of LGBT holders of political offices in New Zealand
This is a list of LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) holders of political offices in New Zealand.
Charles Mackay, who served as Mayor of Whanganui for a non-consecutive period from 1906 to 1920, is the first known gay mayor. Mackay resigned from his position in 1920 after the attempted murder of poet D'Arcy Cresswell, who allegedly blackmailed him and threatened to publicly expose his homosexuality. Most mentions of Mackay were removed from Whanganui due to the controversy, including having streets renamed, his official portrait removed, and his name sanded off the foundation stone of the Sarjeant Gallery. The first openly lesbian councillor in New Zealand was Margaret Magill, who served on the Eastbourne Borough Council from 1931 for around 30 years, including as deputy mayor of Eastbourne.
The first known LGBTQIA+ member of the New Zealand Parliament was Marilyn Waring, who served in parliament from 1975 to 1984. Waring was outed by the press in 1975, but openly acknowledged her sexual orientation only after leaving parliament. The first openly LGBTQIA+ politician was Chris Carter, who was elected to the Te Atatū electorate in 1993, serving until 2010. Carter and Tim Barnett established Rainbow Labour, the LGBT branch within the New Zealand Labour Party, in 1997.
Georgina Beyer became the world's first openly transgender mayor in 1995, when she became the Mayor of Carterton. Beyer later represented Wairarapa in the New Zealand Parliament from 1999 to 2005, becoming the world's first openly transgender Member of Parliament.
After the 2020 New Zealand general election, the New Zealand parliament had thirteen openly LGBTQIA+ MPs, making it the country with the highest proportion of LGBTQIA+ politicians serving in government in the world. Currently, there are nine LGBTQIA+ MPs in the New Zealand parliament.
Grant Robertson is the longest serving LGBTQIA+ member of parliament, having been elected in 2008. Robertson served as the first LGBTQIA+ Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2020 to 2023, and was the first openly gay deputy prime minister in New Zealand.
Members of Parliament
Mayors
Georgina Beyer – Mayor of Carterton (1995–1999)
Charles Mackay – Mayor of Wanganui (1906–1912, 1912–1913, 1915–1920)
Jenny Rowan – Mayor of Inglewood District (1986–1989), Mayor of Kāpiti Coast (2007–2013)
Councillors
Steve Broad – Invercargill City Council (2023–present)
Richard Hills – Auckland Council (2016–present)
Margaret Magill – Eastbourne Borough Council (1931–1950s)
See also
Stephen Berry – right-wing perennial candidate, running from 2002 to 2020.
Damian Light – while not entering parliament, Light became the first openly gay leader of a political party in New Zealand in 2017.
Heather Simpson – chief of staff for Prime Minister Helen Clark, who stood for election in 1987 and 1993.
List of the first LGBT holders of political offices
References
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- List of LGBT holders of political offices in New Zealand
- List of the first openly LGBT holders of political offices
- Lists of LGBTQ politicians
- Politics of New Zealand
- List of the first women holders of political offices
- LGBTQ rights in New Zealand
- Lists of LGBTQ people
- List of the first women holders of political offices in Africa
- List of the first women holders of political offices in North America
- List of LGBT ambassadors of the United States