- Location: Hamilton
- Room: Hamilton
- Start Date: Thursday 24th Jul, 2025.
- End Date: Thursday 4th Sep, 2025.
- Time: 6.00-9.00pm.
- 7 Weeks.
- 3 hours per week.
Are you new to the Rainbow community?
Are you an adult (18+), just starting to question your gender or sexuality?
Have you been wondering how to connect with other people who are also on this journey?
This course is for you!
As a group we will talk through all the big questions you have – you will learn about terminology and the history of our communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. We will talk through the fears and joys of coming out and how to negotiate this with family and friends. We discuss relationships in the Rainbow world - dating, dancing and dynamics. You will be invited to think and learn about takataapui-tanga, and you will meet a group of people who are all on the same journey, with very different perspectives.
About your Facilitators
This course is co-facilitated by Carole for Hohou te Rongo Kahukura, Swathi and Kahukura.
Carole is a non-binary/trans/bi pākehā participant from the first Big Qs group. They have facilitated a group for trans women working on transition through the Waikato Hospital. They set up a LGBTQ+ addiction recovery group and have given individual sessions to recoverers of any identity for over 20 years.
Before terms such as transgender and gender-fluid existed, Carole first identified as queer in 1976 while living and working in France. They have worked in teaching both adults and adolescents. They retired from education in 2008 to give more time to visual art practice.
They live with their wife, have four children and nine grandchildren with whom they are closely engaged.
Kahukura He uri ahau no Ngāti Raukawa, me Ngāti Tahu – Ngāti Whaoa, me Ngāti Kahungunu, me Ngāti Hāmua. They are also the second generation of English and Irish immigrants.
Kahukura (They/Them/Ia) is a Takatāpui (Trans, non-binary, queer) neurodivergent person with over 15 years of experience working in community led development, arts, mental health, and advocacy. Kahukura has a love for organising, Te Ao Māori, and interculturalism. Working with and for communities has always been a driving force in their life, as is their joy for working with people. They are a parent which deeply influences their passion for helping to create safer environments for whaanau and people to thrive in.
Swathi (she/her) identifies as panromantic and has over a decade of experience and studies in the field of education. Swathi loves teaching, research, and reading fiction, fantasy, and murder mysteries. Contributing back to the planet and people has been a key value for her. Swathi is from Mumbai and will talk incessantly about street food and has made New Zealand her home for the past 7 years.
Hohou te Rongo Kahukura is a rainbow and takataapui organisaton dedicated to creating safe communities for us to flourish in. You can find lots of resources about healthy relationships and safety on our website.
Tutors:
Swathi RR
