MEDIA RELEASE: 17 January 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Carmen To Be Honoured In Auckland

AUCKLAND – New Zealanders will have the opportunity to pay tribute to the ‘Mother of Equality’ and New Zealand icon, entrepreneur, and inspiration, Carmen Rupe, (Ngati Maniapoto) at a maumahara (memorial service) in Auckland on Saturday, 11 February 2012. Carmen passed away peacefully in the presence of friends and family on 15 December 2011 and was buried, in accordance with her wishes, in Sydney's Rookwood Maori Cemetery.

The New Zealand memorial will be held at the centrally located Auckland church of St-Matthew-in-the-City and is open to anyone who would like to attend. Jordon Harris, a taktatāpui community member and one of the organisers, says the memorial is an opportunity for people to gather and pay their respects to one of New Zealand’s most respected and successful transgender legends. “Many whānau and friends were able to farewell Carmen in Sydney and this is an opportunity for people in New Zealand to do the same. Some of her close friends from Sydney are coming too and they will be bringing her portrait which was used at the tangi in Sydney.”

The service has been organised by Carmen's whānau, close friends, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF) and Mika Haka Foundation.

Carmen’s many friends and admirers are invited to join the Carmen Rupe Memorial Trust(CRMT) page on Facebook, where a group of Carmen’s closest friends and the Executors of Carmen’s Estate are seeking input and ideas from the wider community regarding how the CRMT might come together to celebrate Carmen’s life, perpetuate her legacy and do charitable work in her name for years to come. Friends of Carmen can join the facebook page and/or email directly to the carmenrupememorialtrust@gmail.com for further details.

E te kuia, e te wahine rongonui o Ngāti Hari

Haere ki a rātou mā, haere ki te waka o te Kaihanga

Haere, haere haere atu rā

####

ends

© Scoop Media