Subj : Banks pull out of tomorrow's Wellington International Pride Parade
To : All
From : Major Queen
Date : Fri Mar 06 2020 01:28 pm
SOURCE 1 NEWS
BNZ, ASB, Westpac, ANZ and Kiwibank have pulled out of the Wellington
International Pride Parade after calls from some rainbow support groups for
the annual event to be boycotted.
"We have received requests from various community groups for us to withdraw
from the Wellington Pride Parade," a Kiwibank spokesperson said.
"It's a difficult situation - we want to honour the relationships with our
communities while also honouring our commitment to the support of pride and
the whole rainbow community."
A Westpac spokesperson also confirmed the company won't be participating.
"After thorough consultation with our staff, the rainbow community and other
participating banks, we have made the difficult decision not to participate
in the Wellington International Pride Parade," the spokesperson said.
Robbie Ellis, ANZ NZ's pride network lead, said staff members were looking
forward to the march, and some will still do so as individuals.
"The parade should be about love, friendship, inclusion and good vibes, and
we don't want to put that at risk in any way so our Wellington Pride group
made the difficult decision to not take part this year," he said. "They're
disappointed, but feel this was the right decision."
Last month, a number of rainbow support organisations and small businesses in
the capital signed an open letter calling for parade participants to pull
out, claiming parade organisers were not willing to hear feedback from the
wider community that the event does not represent the whole LGBTQIA+
community and is too focused on corporate interests and tourism.
Parade organiser Richard Tait told 1 NEWS last month that the parade is open
to everyone and said the group had agreed to mediation in private with
Wellington Rainbow Affiliation Towards Hope - an alliance of multiple
LGBTQIA+ groups that has been a vocal critic - because holding a public
meeting was not safe.
Organisers had put a change in place this year for corporate groups to
support community groups as part of their entry, after hearing feedback
following last year's event, he said.
Wellington Rainbow Affiliation Towards Hope has not agreed to mediation,
saying having the opportunity and ability to share feedback in a public
setting is vital.
