Trans liberation forever
Historian Will Hansen explores some of the many forms of trans resistance throughout history, illustrated by objects held in Te Papa collections.
When I first sat down to write this article, it was only a day after the Minister of Health announced he was going to ban puberty blockers (gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues) for trangender youth.
He argued it was because the medicine was unsafe, and yet it was only going to be banned for trans youth – not for any of the other cisgender youth and adults who used the very same medication!
So, I stepped away from my writing and started organising a response with my comrades in Queer Endurance in Defiance.
Within 2 days we had organised a rally, held on 23 November 2025, attended by over two hundred protesters. At Te Aro Park speakers raged about the bigoted ban on life-saving healthcare, while others decorated the surrounding paths with chalk art and writing.
One message read “children are not your property,” and another, “the ruling class need us to fight each other so we won’t fight them. It’s the goal to keep us distracted.”
Perhaps my favourite was "We have always been here,” because as a transgender man and historian, I can say with confidence – yes, we have!
We have always been here, 2025. Photo supplied by Will Hansen.
Our struggle for transgender liberation is not new. This article highlights just a handful of Te Papa’s objects which speak to Aotearoa’s powerful histories of trans struggle. These material histories prove the endurance of trans communities.
Kiwi Queen Carmen Rupe
What better way to begin an exploration of trans resistance in Te Papa’s collections than with Carmen Rupe herself!
Carmen (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Heke-a-Wai) was a larger-than-life transgender woman, drag queen, performer, sex worker, and businesswoman who was born in Taumarunui in 1936 and died in 2011.
Before she passed, Carmen donated a collection of objects and outfits from her iconic wardrobe to Te Papa. These clothes are evidence both of Carmen’s fabulousness, and her defiance!
In an era where trans women were frequently arrested for wearing “women’s” clothing, walking the streets wearing such bold, glittering outfits was a daily form of resistance.
In January 1966 Carmen herself was arrested for simply wearing women’s clothes. [1] Rather than accept the usual fine and avoid a dehumanising and costly court case, Carmen decided to confront the draconian police head on. She was victorious; the judge could find no laws against people assigned male wearing women’s clothes, and Carmen’s charges were dropped. [2]
'The Green Outfit', and 'The Green Outfit'; Headband, 1980s - 2000s, maker unknown. Gift of Robin Waerea and Jurgen Hoffman on behalf of Carmen Tione Rupe, 2013. © The copyright holder. We are actively seeking the copyright holder. Contact copyright@tepapa.govt.nz if you can help. Te Papa (GH017667) (GH017668)
This was a rare and important victory for trans communities. Police could no longer legally arrest trans people for wearing gender affirming clothing. For Carmen it was also personally empowering. She never wore “male” clothing again, and in 1967 moved to Wellington to open her first of several businesses, Carmen’s International Coffee Lounge . [3]
Establishing this physical presence in Wellington was powerful. Carmen and her businesses changed the landscape of Wellington for trans people, as she propelled into the spotlight to become the most famous trans New Zealander of her era. In 1977 she even ran for Mayor of Wellington!
Whānau and fun
While Carmen was rather extraordinary for her status as a local celebrity, trans resistance was also practiced in more mundane ways. A series of photos taken by Murray Cammick around 1976 provide a snapshot of the everyday lives of sisters Kerri and Violet Pratt and their bewitching group of trans friends in Auckland city.
You can almost hear the giggling and flirting in these photographs! In one, a trio playfully pose on a car hood, glowing like movie stars under city lights. In another, they preen for the camera while a transfixed American marine watches on.
Keri Pratt, Virginia, Violet Pratt, Queen St near Wyndham St, Auckland, circa 1976, Auckland, by Murray Cammick, Jenny Tomlin. Purchased 2015. Te Papa (O.043740)
These photos are evidence of daily practices of resistance. Kerri, Violet and their friends refused to allow shame or fear to rule their lives. They dressed how they pleased, and they enjoyed having fun and being silly together on the town. This was no mean feat. Even though these women walked Auckland’s city streets ten years after Carmen’s 1966 arrest, it remained a dangerous environment. Harassment from the public and police was still commonplace.
Yet, they had each other. The friendships between these women are preserved forever in these photographs, a testament to the beauty of camaraderie.
The photographer recalled that he would often take their photos when they were on their nightly walk between two different queer hotspots, the Ca d’Oro café and Mojo’s nightclub. [3]
At these venues trans women and their friends could gather in relative safety to enjoy dancing, lip-syncing on stage to popular songs, and fuel up on cheese sandwiches.
Having gathering places like the Ca d’Oro and Mojo’s were critical to building trans community. These photos, therefore, capture not only the lives of a few individuals, but a snapshot of the vital networks which made trans life possible in the 1970s.
In Violet and Kerri’s case, they also had support from their birth family: one photo labelled “family” shows the duo posing with their other sister, Mini, and brother Tony. The photo disrupts the popular narrative that trans acceptance is a new phenomenon, denying the myth trans people in the 1970s could only expect to be disowned by their families.
Family: Tony, Mini, Kerry and Violet Pratt near Wyndham St, 1976, Auckland, by Murray Cammick, Jenny Tomlin. Purchased 2015. Te Papa (O.043738)
A cacophony of aroha
Zooming forward in time to a more classic protest object, Te Papa has preserved in its collection multiple placards from a history-making trans protest in Auckland.
On 26 March 2023, hundreds of trans protesters and their allies marched into Auckland’s Albert Park, protesting a speaking event being held there by British anti-trans campaigner Posie Parker. The protest was organised by Trans Liberation Alliance, who had formed swiftly to organise the counter-protest and shared their call to action online on 18 March 2023, just a week in advance. [4]
The protest was a success. Despite the short organising timeframe, it was the largest trans rally in Aotearoa’s history to date!
Participants created a “cacophony of aroha,” cheering, dancing, and making so much noise that it was impossible for Parker to be heard. [5]
After being doused with tomato juice – representing the blood of trans communities spilled by her poisonous rhetoric – Parker abandoned the rally and the rest of her tour.
The rally was intense, but ultimately a powerful symbol of solidarity. The people of Tāmaki Makaurau showed that transphobia was not welcome, that trans people were accepted and loved by local communities.
One of the placards summed up the energy most accurately: “Trans joy beats TERF hate.”
Trans joy beats TERF hate placard, 2023, New Zealand, maker unknown. Gift of Artemis Jasper, 2023. Photo by Melissa Irving, 2026. Te Papa (GH026644)
We have always been here
Across decades, the objects held in Te Papa’s collections tell a story that is both sobering and hopeful. These material traces remind us that trans resistance has taken so many different forms over the decades.
Despite the power of trans oppression, trans people have asserted their bodily autonomy, found one another, built communities, and organised to shut down transphobia.
As debates over trans lives continue to unfold in the present, these collections matter more than ever.
They ground us, connect us, and remind us that today’s struggles are part of a much longer story.
Indigenous Genders Are Real poster, 2018, New Zealand, by Ariki Arts, Ahi Wi-Hongi, Gender Minorities Aotearoa. Purchased 2019. Te Papa (GH025387)
Footnotes
[1] Will Hansen, “Every Bloody Right To Be Here”: Trans Resistance in Aotearoa New Zealand, 1967-1989’ (Masters thesis, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2020), 6.
[2] ‘Culture Bites: December 12’, The Post, 12 December 2024, https://www.thepost.co.nz/culture/360517752/culture-bites-december-12.
[3] McCarthy SM, Police v Rupe (1966) quoted in Paul Martin, Carmen: My Life as Told to Paul Martin, with Carmen Rupe (Benton Ross Publishers, 1988), 112–14; Hansen, ‘Every Bloody Right To Be Here’, 64.
[4] Trans Liberation Alliance [@_trans_liberated], ‘No Platform for Transphobia’, Instagram Post, Instagram, 18 March 2023, https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp7SZTrOQOF/.
[5] Anna Rawhiti-Connell, ‘An Alternative View of the “Angry” Protest Crowd’, The Spinoff, 26 March 2023, https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/26-03-2023/an-alternative-view-of-the-angry-protest-crowd.
Will Hansen (he/him) is an historian, community archivist, library assistant and zine-maker based in Pōneke Wellington. He completed his Masters thesis in 2020, titled ‘“Every Bloody Right To Be Here”: Trans Resistance in Aotearoa New Zealand, 1967 - 1989’, which used oral histories to explore the various politics of resistance practiced by trans elders. As a trustee of Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa/Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand, he is passionate about preserving and sharing Aotearoa’s queer histories, connecting queer kiwis to their past. In 2019 he was a co-leader of Te Papa’s Trans Past, Trans Present: The Making Trans Histories Project.