According to several sources, it appears the New Zealand AIDS Foundation may not be represented at this year’s Rainbow Parade on February 20th and will instead attend Auckland Pride’s Our March.
There are a number of specific questions that andrewwhiteside.com would like to ask the NZAF about this issue and a request for an interview with Jason Myers the Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation has been issued, but no reply has yet happened.
At the inaugral Rainbow Parade last year, a large contingent of staff and volunteers participated and had banners advertising their main programme ‘Ending HIV.’
The New Zealand AIDS Foundation has attended previous pride parades in the city over the years.
If it is confirmed that the NZAF will have no official presence at the Rainbow Parade but will attend the Our March, it may well appear that one of the largest events in the Pride season is being snubbed by the organization tasked with preventing the spread of HIV and promoting safe-sex messages to that community.
This is a developing story and will be updated when further information comes to hand.
UPDATE – 9.06PM 13th February 2021
Statement from Matt Bagshaw, Chair – Rainbow Pride Auckland: ‘Whilst we welcome free registrations from community groups to participate in the Rainbow Parade, we also respect their resourcing priorities for such events. It is a shame however that any rainbow community group would miss the opportunity to leverage all that pride parades can deliver in terms of raising awareness over such important issues.’
UPDATE – 9.44PM 13th February 2021
Statement from Jason Myers – CEO of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation: “As I’m sure you can appreciate, this is an extremely busy time for me and the NZAF team. Your sources are correct, NZAF is not participating in the 20 Feb Rainbow Parade. We had full intentions of doing so and sent an email to 1901 volunteers seeking their participation for the event. We had 4 people register. On this basis, and juggling our limited resources across what is a very demanding time for the organisation, we made the decision to not participate this year. We of course wish the parade every success and have provided a free space for the team at the Ending HIV BGO tomorrow to promote the event.”
UPDATE – 17 February 2021
CEO of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation responds to criticism:
Former Chair of the NZAF – Michael Stevens – comments on the issue: