Home | Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa (formerly LAGANZ)

Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa
formerly Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand: Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa (LAGANZ)

The Archives are owned by a charitable Trust and housed in the Alexander Turnbull Library of the National Library of New Zealand, Wellington.

We collect, preserve and make available for research the records and personal papers of queer and takatapui people and organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our collections are focused on people who identify with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and innate variations of sex characteristics.

Collections

What We Collect
Jack Goodwin Collection - Books, serials, pamphlets.
Manuscript Collection

Digital Archive Project

Volunteer

Activities range from working bees on collections, outreach activities, helping at events, and supporting our digitisation and metadata initiatives. Some of these you can do at home.

Volunteer Drop-in Sessions Online

Every Thursday, 7pm-7.30pm via Zoom.

Join us for a chat, to get quick feedback or demos on your current activity, or to find out which activities are a good fit with your skills and interests.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87514323134?jst=2 (no password, we use a waiting room).

Visit the Archives

Collections are held at the National Library building, cnr Molesworth and Aitken Sts, Wellington.
Contact the Curators for an appointment or research enquiry.
Guide to Using the Catalogue

Resources on this Website

Audio from the Homosexual Law Reform Debate - Searchable database of audio recordings.
Serials List - Newsletters, community newspapers and journals held in the collections.
List of MS Papers - Records of groups and individuals in the collections.
Homosexual Law Reform Retrospective.

Links

Knowledge And Memory Pack for Queer History Month Aotearoa — Pūmahara Ia Te Wā July 2026

Kawe Mahara has released a digital resource with practical tools and suggested activities to celebrate queer history your way in July.

View/Download the Pack: Kawe-Mahara-KAMP2026.pdf [51 pages, 3 MB].

Tell us about your Queer History Month event in our online form - we'll add it to our calendar shared via social media to help you promote it.

These "Celebrate Queer History Month Aotearoa - Pūmahara Ia Te Wā" banners and email signatures can be used for free:

- Black background, 2000 pixels w x 900 h, 50 KB - QHMAEmailSignature_FA-1.png
- Black & white background (colour Kawe Mahara logo), 2000 pixels w x 1000 h, 66 KB - QHMAEmailSignature_FA-5.png.

Untold Stories: A special Pūmahara Ia Te Wā Queer History Month Event

Wed 8 Jul 2026, 6pm-7.30pm, Thistle Hall, 293 Cuba St, Te Aro, Wellington - Free event

Join us for a panel conversation about the "untold stories" of the journey to the passing of the Homosexual Law Reform Bill, a landmark triumph in queer history and rights.

Who carried this movement in ways history hasn’t fully named? What can community memory tell us that official records cannot? What responsibilities come with remembering–and retelling–these stories today?

Featuring the wonderful Linda Evans, Gavin Young, De'Anne Jackson, and Vernon Tile Vamaua!

This is a free event, but places are limited, so please register at Untold Stories Registration.

Latest Newsletter

Read the latest Kawe Mahara Friends and Volunteers Update - 24 May 2026.

Events

Zoom Online Demos & Working Bees: Transcribing Digitised Homosexual Law Reform Submissions and Their Finding Aids
Jun: Sun 21 (2pm-3.30pm); Sat 27 (11am-12.30pm);
Jul: Sat 18 (10am-12 Noon); Thu 30 (6pm-7pm);
Aug: Weds 5 (5pm-8pm).
In Person Demos & Working Bees: Transcribing Digitised Homosexual Law Reform Submissions at Hocken Library, Ōtepoti Dunedin:
Jul: Fri 24 (10.30am-12 Noon); Sat 25 (10.30am-12.30pm).
Saturday Working Bees with Collections at National Library, Wellington:
Jun: Sat 13 & 27 (9.30am-12 Noon);
Jul: Sat 11 & 25 (9.30am-12 Noon).

Kawe Mahara Trust

Kawe Mahara Trustees own the archives on behalf of the community.
The Trust's objects.
History of the archives: Out of the Ashes.

Friends of Kawe Mahara

Join the Friends of Kawe Mahara. Or consider making a donation.
Friends receive occasional newsletters and invitations to Kawe Mahara events.

Make a Bequest

Advice on leaving a financial gift in your will.

Books for Sale

Twenty Years On: Histories of Homosexual Law Reform (2009)
Outlines: Lesbian and gay histories in Aotearoa (2003) - Out of print, borrow from public and academic libraries.

Oral History

Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa formerly Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand: Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa (LAGANZ)

Volunteer Drop-in Sessions Online

Knowledge And Memory Pack for Queer History Month Aotearoa — Pūmahara Ia Te Wā July 2026

Untold Stories: A special Pūmahara Ia Te Wā Queer History Month Event

Latest Newsletter

Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa
formerly Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand: Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa (LAGANZ)