Jan Logie wins the prize for most generous MP
When it comes to putting money where their mouth is for the Rainbow community, Green MP Jan Logie wins in the Wellington
region.
“She’s just donated $500, after we asked all local MPs to support our work to keep queer and trans young people safe,”
says Outerspaces Trust chairperson, Kabel Manga.
Ms Manga says Outerspaces, which runs peer support groups School’s Out and Tranzform, are seeking funding to employ a
full-time co-ordinator. They have applied to all the usual funders, and received small bits and pieces of funding, but
thought they could be a bit innovative by approaching MPs directly.
“Our groups can have up to 40 young people a week! We just want to be able to pay our co-ordinator the living wage for a
year to support our team of volunteers,” says Ms Manga. “Our groups are constantly growing, so there’s lots at stake.”
School’s Out has been running in the Wellington region for nearly 20 years for LGBTIQ+ school students, and came
together with Tranzform, a support group specifically for trans young people and other youth initiatives under the
Outerspaces name just a few years ago.
“Naming New Zealand fundraises to help trans young people pay for identity documents, which people need to get jobs and
travel. And the Binder Exchange helps trans masculine people feel more comfortable wearing clothes they want to wear,”
says Ms Manga. “All of the things Outerspaces does are free to queer and trans young people, and we are super blessed
with loads of fantastic volunteers, but we desperately want to pay a fabulous co-ordinator to hold it all together.”
Outerspaces wrote to all Wellington, Hutt and Porirua electorate MPs – a list of sixteen – about six weeks ago, asking
for donations or help to host fundraising events. “We told them how high the bullying of queer and trans young people
can be, and why our peer support groups are important. We knew they would want to know about young people in their
electorates.”
Ms Manga says there have been some friendly responses. “But Jan Logie definitely wins the prize so far! She’s an awesome
support for queer and trans young people. We would love to see all the other local MPs step up too though – we’re not
far from our goal now, every little bit helps.”
To donate to Outerspaces, visit http://outerspaces.org.nz/donate Our website has more information about our groups, or
email us at hello@outerspaces.org.nz
ENDS