News
November 2009
AANZ books a stall at the next Wellington Gay and Lesbian Fair. It is being held in Civic Square on Saturday 23rd January 2010 so make a note in your diary, come along and say hello!
October 2009
Chris takes a walk on the Yorkshire Moors with some folk from the AVEN boards.
August 2009
Gerald, the asexual character in Shortland Street, gets a mention in an article called "Asexuals Leave The Closet, Find Community" in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Chris meets up with a few fellow UK A's and watches the Pride Parade in Manchester. A rather literal T-shirt was worn that generated a few bemused looks from members of the crowd. Next time it would be good be part of the parade rather than just an onlooker...
AANZ sends a submission in response to the Statistics NZ discussion paper "Considering Sexual Orientation as a Potential Official Statistic".
June 2009
A personal record for Chris as he meets up with 13 other asexuals in a meetup in Liverpool.
May 2009
Asexuality is mentioned on Radio New Zealand during a Kim Hill interview with sex therapist Robyn Salisbury.
April 2009
Despite being 12,000 miles away from Wellington Chris still manages to attend asexual meetups. This time it's a meetup in Manchester.
February 2009
Jackie is profiled in an online article by Sophie Scarf, a journalism student at Whitireia Polytechnic
January 2009
Susan, Jackie and Chris go for a meal in Wellington with Laura, a visitor from the Waikato.
AANZ and our information pamphlet get a mention in a blog by Neyinka.
Actor Harry McNaughton, who plays asexual character Gerald Tippett on Shortland Street, is interviewed on Radio New Zealand.
AANZ gets put in the spotlight on Queers United.
Susan meets Harry McNaughton when he is down in Wellington for the Capital Ocean Swim.
November 2008
The fifteenth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
October 2008
Chris comes across a short article about TVNZ by Sue Watkins in the
August edition of the Gay Express. The article suggests that TVNZ's decision to make the Shortland
Street character Gerald Tippett asexual instead of gay could be the result of homophobia.
Unfortunately while doing so she criticises the validity of the current asexual storyline. She
states:
"Is it so different for people to accept two men together? What is it about that which makes
people so uncomfortable? A level of discomfort no less, that they would pull an interesting, full
and complex storyline to replace it with something mundane?"
Presumably this means that the lives of asexuals are uninteresting, empty, simple and ordinary!
The Dominion Post newspaper runs a story on Clara Meadmore, the "world's oldest virgin", who grew up in New Zealand.
September 2008
Tearaway, a widely circulated magazine aimed at NZ Youth, publishes a feature on asexuality. It includes a summary of the Shortland Street asexuality storyline to date and interviews with two NZ asexuals, Evelyn and Chris.
Shortland Street story writers show that they have been visitors to the AANZ website when Jesse, the organiser of a local asexual group, is shown wearing an "Extra Virgin" T-shirt. A similarly themed shirt was won by Chris earlier this year at Wellington's Gay And Lesbian Fair.
August 2008
August is a big month for New Zealand asexuality as references to the Shortland Street storyline pop up in news services, blogs and bebo pages all over the Internet.
Great quotes from these include:
"New Zealand Wins Award For Most Asex-Friendly Country of 2008. Okay, there is no such award, but there should be! Probably the biggest news for the asexual community lately is the first ever explicitly asexual TV character." - The Gray Lady
"He (asexual character Gerald) vehemently tells his parents something like, "I'm not the only one! There's hordes of us!", and that just made me smile. (It's so bizarre how something you know well yourself becomes revalotory when you hear someone else saying it.) What a great thing for the younguns to hear, right? - Asexy Beast
"The first EVER real media portrayal of asexuality!" - Emma Rainbow
"Why is New Zealand so much cooler than Canada/the US?" - Coleslaw
July 2008
The Shortland Street episodes get some attention on the excellent Asexy Beast blog. The title of the article is New Zealand: Advanced Society.
Gerald comes out! Yes, it's been a long journey for Gerald Tippett, the popular hospital receptionist in Shortland Street, but he finally stumbled across the concept of asexuality on the Internet and came out as asexual to his girlfriend. Watch selected scenes from the asexuality storyline.
Statistics New Zealand is considering including a question on sexual orientation in future censuses. The paper Considering sexual orientation as a potential official statistic (pdf, 201 KB) has been produced that broadly evaluates the need for sexual orientation statistics within the context of Statistics New Zealand's wider Review of Cultural Identity Statistics. The paper discusses the need for information on gay, lesbian and bisexual populations but does not mention asexuals.
A letter addressing some of the issues raised in the previous week's correspondence is published in the Sunday Star Times Magazine on 8th July.
June 2008
In response to the asexuality article two letters are published in the Sunday Star Times Magazine on 24th June.
A supportive editorial by Rose Hoare and a four page cover article on asexuality by Felicity Monk are published in the Sunday Star Times Magazine on 8th June. The artricle features interviews with four asexual people.
May 2008
Asexuals get a mention when the "what do gay men have in common with other queer groups" question raises its head in "Question for you", a blog by Michael Stevens on GayNZ.
April 2008
AANZ is contacted by Felicity Monk, a journalist who writes for the Sunday Star Times, with regard to writing an article about asexuality for its magazine. Five willing asexual folk are interviewed and the article is due to be published sometime toward the end of next month.
Speculation continues that Shortland Street's hospital receptionist Gerald Tippett, played by actor Harry McNaughton, could be asexual.
Chris treats himself to a three-week holiday around the top half of the South Island and meets up with Sarah in Nelson, and Kate and Sean in Christchurch.
March 2008
The AANZ site is given another makeover, this time giving a more professional feel. A new logo, based on Michael Storms' model of sexual orientation, is also introduced.
Chris is interviewed by a freelance journalist who had spotted the AANZ stall at the fair.
AANZ runs a stall at Wellington's Gay And Lesbian Fair in Civic Square. The relocation of the fair from Newtown to the city centre brings a greater number of people and pamphlets were handed out at a faster rate than last year. The acceptance of a pamphlet was greatly enhanced by the bribe of a cheese straw, baked into cool A-shapes by Chris's flatmate Jean-Marie. It was amazing how effective "Would you like an asexual cheese straw?" was as an opening line!
Unfortunately rain started in the afternoon and the stall was washed out by 3 p.m. Responses were generally positive although several people had to be reassured that we were only giving out information and not trying to recruit them! Like last year, Chris marked the celebration with a themed T-shirt. Extra care, of course, was taken to inform people that not all asexuals are virgins.
February 2008
Following a redesign of the AVEN pamphlet, the AANZ pamphlet is reworded and 200 copies are printed out for the forthcoming Gay And Lesbian Fair.
There is speculation that Shortland Street's hospital receptionist Gerald Tippett, played by actor Harry McNaughton, could be asexual.
January 2008
AANZ reserves a space for an information stall at "Out In The Square", the new name for Wellington's Gay And Lesbian Fair. This year the fair will take place in Civic Square on Saturday 1st March. Come along and say hello!
Links to the AANZ site have been added to the sites of Webhealth Waikato and Christchurch City Libraries.
Asexuality is also mentioned in a positive light on the Lovecoach NZ homepage.
November 2007
The fourteenth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
Asexuals and asexuality are mentioned in Nathan Brown's conference paper "Beyond the Battleground: Affirmations of Sexual and Gender Diversity in Aotearoa NZ Youth". It was presented at the 6th Australian and New Zealand Youth Health Conference in Christchurch, 23-26 September 2007.
October 2007
Chris finally gets his hand on a copy of "Do Not Want", the article about asexuality that appears in the Fall edition of Bitch Magazine. He is pleasantly surprised to see himself name checked three times and quoted twice. Asexuality Aotearoa New Zealand is name checked once.
September 2007
Asexuals make the rainbow! A link to the Asexuality Aotearoa New Zealand website is included in the list of resources on the Rainbow Families New Zealand website.
We also make it onto the links pages of Out There! and the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations.
August 2007
A double page feature on asexuality by Shelley Bridgeman is published in the New Zealand Herald on Sunday on 5th August. Quotes from Chris, Kate, Keri and Jackie appear as do photographs of Chris, Keri, Jackie and her partner David.
July 2007
Chris attends the Safety in School for Queers (SS4Q) conference in Wellington. References to asexuals and asexuality cropped up a few times during the conference which was really encouraging. Nathan Brown, coordinator of Out There!, included asexuals in his opening address. A workshop called the Subversive Queer, ran by Sarah Helm, Director of the New Zealand Association for Adolescent Health and Development, frequently mentioned asexuality and it even appeared in one of the workshop exercises. A new sexuality education resource, Affirming Diversity, was presented at a workshop run by the Family Planning Association. Asexuality appears twice in the publication, once in the introduction and once in the glossary. Unfortunately it is not given the same status or coverage as hetero, bi or homosexuality but hey, it's a step forward!
The AANZ website gets a bit of a makeover, making it easier to read and hopefully a little nicer to look at. Let us know if this isn't the case.
June 2007
Chris takes a holiday in Christchurch and meets up with Kate, who attended the 18th Congress of the World Association for Sexual Health / 1st World Congress for Sexual Health in April, and Sean, a man who became interested in asexuality after hearing Kathryn Ryan interview Chris on National Radio in February.
Chris is interviewed by Bitch Magazine for an article to be published at the end of the year.
AANZ registers at the Safety in School for Queers (SS4Q) conference in Wellington in July.
May 2007
Chris and Jackie discuss the current and future states of research into asexuality with Tony Bogaert, author of Asexuality: prevalence and associated factors in a national probability sample and Toward a Conceptual Understanding of Asexuality, over lunch while he is visiting Wellington.
In response to an interview with Joan Sewell, author of the book "I'd Rather Eat Chocolate:
Learning to Love My Low Libido", the following letter is published in the Sunday Star Times
Magazine:
"It was surprising that the article on Joan Sewell's non-existent sex life did not mention
asexuality. Asexuals are people who do not experience sexual attraction although many experience
romantic (non-sexual) attraction to other people and wish to form relationships. Research indicates
that 1% of the population could be defined as asexual. More information on asexuality can be found
at www.asexuality.org.nz."
The thirteenth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
April 2007
Kate attends the 18th Congress of the World Association for Sexual Health / 1st World Congress for Sexual Health in Sydney, April 15-19 2007. A report of her conference experiences and an abstract from the study Understanding asexuality: Sexual characteristics and personality profiles of asexual men and women by Gail A Knudson, Lori A Brotto and Jess Inskip have been posted on AVEN.
Asexuality is the subject of discussion on the queer column of Salient, the student magazine of Victoria University, Wellington.
March 2007
AANZ have an information stall at the Gay And Lesbian Fair at Newtown, Wellington. Chris and Jackie hand out leaflets, lollies and biscuits, and explain to interested parties what asexuality is all about. The response to the stall is very positive with several people commenting on the importance of having an asexuality presence at the fair. A great day!
Chris wears a T-shirt based on the well known Tui Beer billboard advertisments.
The twelfth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
February 2007
An article on asexuality is published by The Press newspaper on 19th of February.
Chris is interviewed by Kathryn Ryan on National Radio's Nine to Noon programme on 8th February. Co-interviewees are Tony Bogaert, author of Asexuality: prevalence and associated factors in a national probability sample, and sexologist Patrica Weerakoon.
The AANZ website receives 111 visits on the day of the interview, its highest ever number.
The eleventh meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
January 2007
AANZ reserves a place for an information stall at the Gay And Lesbian Fair in Newtown, Wellington on Saturday 10th March.
The tenth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
December 2006
A page containing information on asexuality is published on the Wellington Gayline website.
November 2006
The ninth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
A critical letter is sent to the Gay Express following the publication of the article on asexuality. AANZ's response to the letter is subsequently published a couple of issues later.
A short letter to the Dominion Post newspaper about asexuality is published.
UniQ adds asexuals to its list of represented groups
October 2006
The eighth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
Chris is interviewed by the community newspaper, the Gay Express. An article on asexuality and a profile on AANZ are published.
AANZ contributes an article to a sexual health magazine published by Victoria University Student Association.
Chris gives a powerpoint presentation on asexuality during Pride Week at Victoria University.
The text of the AANZ pamphlet appears in the Quaker publication, Friends for Gay and Lesbian Concerns (FGLC) newsletter.
September 2006
The seventh meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
August 2006
The sixth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
AANZ is invited to speak at Victoria University during Pride Week in October.
An Aotearoa New Zealand-based sex therapist site links to the AANZ site.
Chris and Susan meet two members from the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors to discuss the role of AANZ. AANZ is advised to put together a code of ethics to ensure the safety of its members and of any questioning asexuals.
Chris and Susan have a meeting at the Ministry of Women's Affairs regarding the forthcoming Review of Sexuality Education in Schools. The Ministry will inform AANZ of the results of the research when they become available.
Chris has a meeting with the Out There! project. After the meeting AANZ is emailed with a number of questions and concerns about publicising asexuality. AANZ's response turned out to be an excellent opportunity to dispel some myths associated with asexuality and we subsequently received positive feedback.
AANZ confirms that there is nothing in the Civil Union Act that requires Civil Union Partners to have a sexual relationship - failure to consummate the union isn't grounds for dissolution. In other words, asexuals can have their relationships officially recognised if they so desire.
July 2006
The fifth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
Chris has a meeting with the two policy officers at the Ministry of Social Development who are responsible for LBGT issues. There is some discussion about whether asexuality can actually be defined as a sexual orientation. AANZ requests that the data which appears in the Non-Heterosexual Youth Report be analysed to give more information on those survey respondents who indicated that they were sexually attracted to neither sex.
Chris gives a powerpoint presentation to an audience of 50 at the UniQ National Conference in Palmerston North. The talk is well received and generated a lot of positive feedback and questions.
One of the conference attendees, Bridget, sends a wonderful e-mail to AANZ and subsequently joins the group!
June 2006
The New Zealand Association of Counsellors Newsletter containing the interview with Chris and Susan is published. The editor of the magazine says she's had "several very positive responses" to the published interview.
May 2006
The fourth meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
A list of Aotearoa New Zealand-based people who are registered with the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) is produced and updated regularly.
April 2006
The third meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
Susan and Chris are interviewed for an article about asexuality for the New Zealand Association of Counsellors Newletter.
After many attempts Chris finally manages to capture a shot of the illusive "asexual frame" that appears during an advertisement for the TV One television channel!
March 2006
AANZ pamphlets are sent out to counsellors and sex therapists.
AANZ pamphlets appear on the Rainbow Team stall at the Lesbian and Gay Fair in Newtown, Wellington.
Chris goes on holiday and drops in to visit Islander9, an asexual living on the West Coast of New Zealand!
February 2006
The second meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place.
AANZ is invited to speak at the forthcoming UniQ National Conference in Palmerston North in July.
January 2006
Chris meets Justin Pemberton, a documentary filmmaker, to discuss the possibility of making a film about asexuality in Aotearoa New Zealand.
December 2005
The first meeting of the Wellington Asexual Group takes place in a cafe in the city centre.
Sixty asexuality posters are put up around Wellington city centre. Unfortunately, within 24 hours they have all been covered up by professional bill posters! However, AANZ receives a very positive email from a passing non-asexual...
"Although I'm not asexual myself (now i know what it is after reading your site!) I really enjoyed finding out about it and I think it's awesome to have a bit of a public awareness thing going on. People should be aware of, and sensitive to, all the range of sexualities out there! We're all just people after all :)"
November 2005
The Asexuality Aotearoa New Zealand website is launched on 1st November. The site address is submitted to several Internet search engines and directories and is quickly established as a high-ranking site when searching for asexuality related material using the popular search engine Google.
AANZ contacts queer organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand to inform them about the group, and about asexuality in general, and also to request that a link to the AANZ website be placed on their organisation websites. Consequently the AANZ website appears on the front page of gaynz.com in the "Worth Checking Out" section. The site is accessed by 15 visitors per day.
Susan is interviewed by a journalist writing an article on asexuality for the magazine, Yen.