Some 200 people – including many from Wellington’s LGBTQI+ community – marched in solidarity with the Black transgender community in the US in Wellington over the weekend. The march was called after Merci Mack, a Black transgender woman, was murdered last week in the US. This brings the total number of reported transgender or gender-non-conforming people murdered this year to 18.
The march was loud and vibrant, chanting “All Black lives matter”, “Black trans power”, “no justice, no peace” and “enough is enough”. Once at Parliament, there were speeches from the organiser, representatives of the New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective, Wellington Pride, and a statement from Gender Minorities Aotearoa. All the speeches and statements were striking, covering the discrimination and injustice the Black transgender community faces every day in the US and here in Aotearoa, and the lack of action by the current New Zealand Government to tackle and fund LGBTQI+ issues.
