27 May 2019

Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, will lead the re-opening of Parliament’s refurbished Rainbow Room tomorrow on Tuesday 28 May.

One of the themed select committee meeting rooms based in Parliament House, the Rainbow Room was first opened in 2008. The then Speaker Hon Margaret Wilson had approved the dedication of the room to the nation’s gay, lesbian, and trans-gender community, and to their contribution to New Zealand society.

“Project Uplift”, which has significantly modified the room, has recently been completed as a joint effort between the Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk. The cross-party NZ Parliamentary Rainbow Network provided guidance and agreement.

The re-opening of the refurbished room on Tuesday, 28 May 2019 will include the New Zealand launch of Andrew Reynold’s book The Children of Harvey Milk and the premiere of an in-house documentary, Rainbow Voices, by the Parliamentary Engagement team.

“Parliament’s themed select committee rooms recognise and celebrate the contributions of New Zealand’s diverse communities to society and to Parliament. I am pleased to be involved with the re-opening of the refurbished Rainbow Room, which now features flags representative of the rainbow community, photographs of former and current LGBTI members of Parliament, and framed copies of six Bills of significance,” said Mr Speaker.

ENDS

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