Shortland Street and the Queer Revival - By Lara Romsdal

For a few years now, Shortland Street has been increasingly respondent to introducing queer characters into the mainstream, largely in part to the works of their in-house writers. With this change we begin to see a change in the portrayal of an often mis-represented faction of our communities. These are queer characters that aren’t ‘the stereotype’.

Recently, Shortland Street has introduced several queer storyline arcs and notable characters into its fold, often with queerness being dealt in a way that highlights sensitive issues but does not detract from story-telling. In my opinion, this is the best way to introduce societal comment into programming, removing the often ‘light-hearted’ stigma audiences have been usually exposed to. It is in fact quite timely that today - New Zealand’s longest running TV show - Shortland Street is exposing its audiences to a current and topical issue, that of transgender rights. The show’s continual filming of queer content illuminates thought on the current situation in the queer community, particularly with transgender rights, as a reminder to all New Zealanders that critical work has not been completed.

Even today, in a world that has begun to change with the onset of Brexit negotiations and the office of President being filled by Mr. Trump, New Zealand is still pursuing rights that are being compromised by our highest decision-makers. Parliament. For instance, in our Human Rights charters and legislation, Transgender individuals regardless of their citizenry status still do not fall under anti-discriminatory legislation in the workplace or as an outstanding offence. Therefore, these seemingly well-to-do individuals are being cast aside by often ‘leading politicians’. We can all remember the vote that Mr. English cast only four years prior, and although he was acting in a conscience vote it does bear to pass that a greater admission of civil practices has fallen on the way-side. It is but one victory, same-sex marriage (2013), of a much wider equity issue.

Today in New Zealand for the Queer community we see positive changes happening across the media, in both regional and national levels in terms of our TV presenters and news anchors, as well as in our cultural arts and political representation (for instance Shortland Street and the Auckland Rainbow Advisory Board). We still have vestiges of Pride which are seen as less than positive such as the Pride Parade, as well as the recent ’40 year waitlist for Gender Confirmation Surgery’, which should be addressed nationally as well as within a community. It remains to be seen how our newest change-up of government reacts to these facts in light of the upcoming election. We still do not have the provisions for all sectors of society to be seen as equal and indiscriminate where it really matters most- employment, and in terms of our current issues re. refugee quotas, but where does this leave the outreach of media?

Shortland Street in its time has historically tackled big issues, especially queer ones, with a more sensational approach. In recent years, Shortland Street has seen the hiring of trans-focused consultancy and having made a greater commitment to queer representation is surely exploring greater depth in their stories thanks to innovative characters such as Blue. In fact, Shortland Street is going beyond the simple portrayal of queerness in a character by chance to extensively developing story-arcs and situations that aren’t so much Trans-related but are simply human-focused. Again, this approach made different by the writing team, has inspired yet another outlook into the lives of New Zealanders today, while still capturing the environment of a TV-drama. Where else can this be achieved? We can see this through shows such as Seven Days which, although may be more controversial, engages with the feelings of New Zealanders in a diverse portrait not often challenged in a more regulated setting as commonly found on other programmes. Seven Days itself features many queer participants, often using this feature in an anecdotal way not within a comedic display of what queerness is but as simply a factor in which the comedic anecdote is situated in.

Shortland Street reaches a large audience weekly, and in its attempts, has succeeded to instigate a changing perspective amongst the populace. This has been an achievement of synthesising real-time issues of New Zealand today within a broader understanding of what is in the make-up of society. So much so, that the Same Street But Different LGBTQI Writer’s Festival is featuring a Shortland Street session with the programme seeking to highlight the process in what is undertaken in writing and showcasing these particular issues across New Zealand media*. This surely has been a positive step forward for New Zealand television, Shortland Street’s integration of society-related issues, and the engagement of a thinking public.

This is where New Zealand is heading towards, a country where queerness can be seen and heard as positive; important, and within the rights of every participant to express. By engaging within this media, our leaders can foreseeably change the political landscape to benefit the rights and liberties of a New Zealand citizenry that is not always afforded full and equal protection. The wheel may have been turning for some time, yet perhaps this is a time where we can change the wheel’s speed.

*Same Street But Different LGBTQI Writer’s Festival: 18th Feb 1:00pm @ AUT City Campus Auckland

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