27/03/2023
Tributes from across the LGBTQIA community have been pouring in for New Zealand politician Georgina Beyer, a centre left former member of the Kiwi Parliament and the first openly transgender member of a democratic Parliament in the world, as far as researchers know. Ms Beyer has ascended to the realm of our LGBTQ+ ancestors after suffering from kidney disease for some years. She was sixty five. Reuters notes that Ms Beyer was elected for the New Zealand Labour Party in 1999 and remained in Parliament until 2007. Made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II in 2020 for services to the rainbow community, she was known for her work in the legalisation of civil unions and gay marriage as well as the decriminalisation of prostitution. Ms Beyer also served as the mayor of the small town of Carterton, which was flying its flag at half mast, according to Radio New Zealand, as a mark of respect. The town of Carteron is also to immortalise Ms Beyer in a street name.
