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Kia ora! I'm Jo (on the left) and I have come onboard to help manage the Whangārei Pride Festival 2025! You may remember me from the 2023 festival too :)

I have been organising events for 5+ years and also work at Creative Northland. I am super passionate about running inclusive, free community events and thrilled to be helping out once again.

I am super passionate about the PROUD community as my mum (pictured above on the right) is gay and this brought us both a lot of ostracisation back in the 90's (+many years prior for her). I am so happy that there is such radical inclusion of rainbow communities these days and I want to do everything I can to help provide inclusive spaces for all. I have heaps to learn and I am always open to hearing other's points of view to expand my own horizons.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about the Whangārei Pride festival - simply send me an email to whangareipride@gmail.com

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Ko Puketapu tōku maunga

Ko Waikato tōku awa

Ko Tainui tōku waka

Ko Ngāti Te Ata tōku hapū

Ko Tahuna Pā tōku marae

Ko Hanariki tōku ingoa

I also whakapapa to Samoa, England and Ireland and I am the Chairperson for Whangārei PROUD. At our bi-monthly community hui, I am usually the board representative and love getting to connect with the community and create more opportunities for celebration and expression.

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Kia ora koutou

We’re Carol and Dee, long time residents of Whangārei, mothers of six children, and grannies to 10 mokopuna, 6 of whom live in Whangārei. We love to cook, listen to live music, and travel whenever we can. We love the fantastic queer community that’s connecting and growing here, and look forward to celebrating the third Pride month together!

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Ko Te Atua o Taiehu, ko Pukekura kā mauka Ko Ōtākou te awa

Ko Tākitimu, ko Uruao kā waka

Ko Ōtākou te marae

Ko Kāi Te Pahi, ko Kāi Te Ruahikihiki,

Ko Kāti Taoka, ko Kāti Moki kā hapū

Ko Kāi Tahu te iwi

Ko Cory Fernmoor tōku ikoa

My name's Cory, and I'm the treasurer for Whangārei Proud. My pronouns are he/him and I identify as queer, or gay. I've been with my husband for over 25 years and we have an amazing teenage son, a weirdly charming dog, and some community ducks that wander the neighborhood. As well as Kai Tahu, I also whakapapa to Europe, and Rēkohu (Chatham Islands), and although I grew up in Dunedin we've now made Whangārei our home and love being manuhiri in this beautiful place. I love creating safe places for all our community, and people can be 100% their authentic selves around me! 🤙

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Elise (ey/em/eir, enby) and Jesse (he/him, ally)

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We are so happy to be living in Whangārei now, such a lovely and warm region of Aotearoa, having moved here from Seattle, a lovely city in Cascadia, Turtle Island. We are grateful for being so warmly welcomed into the pride community and we enjoy contributing to the development of inclusivity and understanding all around us. We're nature nerds, science hippies, and artistic experimenters.

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Kia ora, my name is Blu! I am one of the board members at Whangārei PROUD. As a queer and neurodivergent person it's very fulfilling to help the community flourish and thrive. I am also an artist, you can often find me at Te Kowhai Print Trust, or at home with my other half, Gus, and our two cats. Feel free to say hello if you see me around—just be ready to overlook my social awkwardness! :3