Why I’m Sweating with Pride

I'm taking on Sweat with Pride this June! 

At this time in history I believe it's especially important to support LGBTQIA+ communities. These communities are being targeted as part of right wing attacks on all forms of freedom of expression across the world, and hatred against them is encouraged as a distraction from the damage being done to all people by policies that damage the environment, strip away indigenous rights, and massively increase inequality.

To fight for the rights of LGBTQIA+ is to fight for the rights of all. Attacks on queer people are the thin end of the wedge and we already see these extending into increased oppression of all people, for example cis women who, alongside transgender women, now need to adhere to traditional gender expression and be subjected to invasive challenges just to use a public bathroom. In the USA female senators finally gained the right to wear trousers in 1993, but currently there is an increase in courtrooms and workplaces in the USA banning women from wearing trousers.

LGBT people may be a symbolic "other" to the right wing, but they are human beings who bear the brunt of this oppression every day, with discrimination, harassment, and violence having terrible effects on their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

Homophobic and transphobic hate crimes are on the rise, and here in Aotearoa we have a government which wants to restrict the legal definitions of sex and gender, and plans to remove teaching about gender identity and gender stereotypes from the curriculum. We have groups like Destiny Church attacking people in the queer community for living their authentic lives, and we have people like MP Benjamin Doyle receiving death threats due to their gender identity.

Aotearoa isn't safe for LGBTQIA+ people, who face higher rates of mental illness, suicide, and STIs like syphilis, mpox, and HIV.

So, I'm fighting discrimination with perspiration—exercising 21 minutes every day in June to raise money for life-changing Rainbow support services.

I hope you agree with me about how important this cause is, and I’d be so grateful if you could chip in to help me reach my goal. Every dollar makes a difference.

Thank you so much for your support! ❤️