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LAGANZ Trust
- Background to the Trust
- Name Change Process
- Board of Trustees
- People Connected to the Trust
- Objects of the Trust
Background to the Trust
The Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand | Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa Trust (LAGANZ) was formed in 1992. Its Board of Trustees own, on behalf of the LGBTTIFQ+ communities, the growing number of collections which now make up the Archives.
The trust has a number of objects that define its purpose and activities. We updated our constitution in 2009 and for us LGBTTIFQ+ means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, takatāpui, fa'afafine, intersex or queer and includes any same-sex attracted, transgender or intersex members of any indigenous community of the Pacific. In 2005 the Board formally adopted a te reo Māori name for LAGANZ - Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa - that was proposed by David Jones and Lee Smith.
The initial core of the collections goes back to an initiative of the National Gay Rights Coalition in 1977. It developed into a research library and archives known as the Lesbian and Gay Rights Resource Centre which was placed in the care of a trust in 1984.
In 1988, to ensure the collections a secure home, the trustees made an agreement with the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington for their permanent accommodation. The collections remain under the ownership of the Trust, and are open to researchers on the same basis as other research heritage collections. This agreement secures their safe storage and assures that access to them is supervised.
Currently the Archives attracts up to 200 visitors and fields around 90 research enquiries a year.
For more details of the origins of LAGANZ read Out of the Ashes - an article by Chris Parkin and Phil Parkinson which includes an account of the dramatic events surrounding the November 1986 arson attack on the archives.
Name Change Process
The LAGANZ Board is currently surveying interest among our communities for changes to our name and logo, as part of a larger process around our evolving identity. Currently, our name and branding do not reflect the diversity of our LGBTTIFQ+ communities and our collections.
We recognise the importance of co-designing with and representing LGBTTIFQ+ communities in all their diversity and the Board is inviting community input into our name change process.
Our LAGANZ Name Change Survey has closed. We received 370 responses - thank you! The Board of LAGANZ has formed a working group that will be analysing and reporting back on the survey responses over the coming weeks. You can email the Board at board@laganz.org.nz if you have any feedback or enquiries about our process.
With our Digital Archive Project underway we need to consider our name change now so that we have a domain name ready to go when we launch our new collections portal. A domain name is a unique address for a website that will help people locate us, and it is difficult to change retrospectively.
Board of Trustees
There is provision for ten trustees. The trustees appoint one or more curators to care for the collections, to supervise access to them, and to assist those wishing to consult them in their research.
The current trustees are:
- Kevin Haunui (Chair)
- Roger Swanson (Secretary)
- Gavin Hamilton (Treasurer)
- Dr Elizabeth Kerekere
- Donal Raethel
- Will Hansen
- Clare O'Leary
- Fiona Clark
People Connected to the Trust
- Linda Evans
Curator - Chris Szekely
Chief Librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library in the National Library of New Zealand
Alexander Turnbull Library's representative at meetings of the trustees. - Reuben Love
Newsletter editor.
Last updated: 4 Sep 2023
Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand (LAGANZ) | Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa
PO Box 11-695, Manners St, Wellington 6142
Alexander Turnbull Library, 70 Molesworth St, Wellington 6011
NEW ZEALAND
Curator Tel: +64 4 462 3972 |
Trust Secretary Mob: +64 27 444 3961
curators@laganz.org.nz | facebook.com/lgarchivesnz | instagram.com/lgarchivesnz