Kia ora e te whānau,

As 2025 starts to wrap up, we congratulate you on your mahi and the milestones you’ve achieved this year.

A big shout-out to everyone who has or is graduating—ka pai! Ngā manaakitanga mō tō haerenga hou—best wishes for your next chapter!

Wishing all our Te Herenga Waka whānau a holiday season full of sunshine and relaxation. Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi o te tau hou!

Here's what's in our newsletter:

💬 Advice and support—during Trimester 3
📅 Trans Awareness Week 2025 and Trans Day of Remembrance 🕯️
🌈 Queerly reflecting on 2025
      💝 Kaiārahi Kahukura—Rainbow and Inclusion Adviser
      🌟 UniQ
      🩺 Gender Affirmative Care Inter-Disciplinary Team
      🌐 Rainbow Research Network

Stay connected:

🌏 Check out the Rainbow Hub for useful information www.wgtn.ac.nz/rainbow

📷 Follow us on Instagram @vuwequitywellbeing and Facebook

❓ Questions or Queeries? Email rainbow@vuw.ac.nz

Advice and Support—during Trimester 3

Mauri Ora—Student Health and Counselling

Mauri Ora is open during Trimester 3 at Kelburn, Pipitea, and Te Aro campuses, but closed on the following days:

• Monday 24 November 2025—Planning day
• Friday 5 December 2025—Holiday function

They will also be open over the holiday break at the Kelburn campus only:

• Student Health will be open between Monday 22 and Wednesday 31 December 2025, but closed on statutory holidays and weekends.
• Student Counselling will open until Wednesday 24 December 2025.
• Normal business hours resume for both services on Monday 5 January 2026.

Trans Awareness Week 2025 and Trans Day of Remembrance

Trans Awareness Week (14–19 November) reminds us of the importance of celebrating, affirming, and standing in solidarity with our trans communities.

Trans Day of Remembrance (Thursday 20 November) is a time to honour all trans lives lost to violence and reflect on how we can contribute to a more inclusive world.

You can find events happening around the motū (continuing until Saturday 29 November), plus discover services and information to deepen your understanding of gender diversity on Gender Minorities Aotearoa’s website.

Queerly Reflecting on 2025

Kaiārahi Kahukura—Rainbow and Inclusion Adviser

Sterling (they/them)

This year also marks the final chapter of the Rainbow Peer Group, which won’t be returning next year due to low attendance. I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to our 2025 Rainbow Facilitators, Aria and Nick, for their fantastic mahi.

I began working at the University in 2022 as a Rainbow Facilitator myself, during the Rainbow Peer Group’s very first year. It feels poignant, but fitting, to see the group complete its cycle, as my own time as Rainbow and Inclusion Adviser concludes. I’m immensely grateful for my time in this role, as working alongside so many passionate and thoughtful people has been a privilege. Most of all, I want to thank all the students I’ve worked with—your courage and determination have been a constant source of inspiration and motivation.

To quote John Paul Brammer:

Remember what it felt like when you saw a queer person owning it and it gave you permission to be yourself? You’re that person to someone.

Be that person to someone.

Hei konā rā,

Sterling

This year has been challenging yet rewarding for UniQ. A few personal highlights were our:

• Presence at Wellington Pride Festival events, such as Out in the City and the Pride Hīkoi. In the face of ongoing attacks on trans rights and queer expression, it was especially uplifting to see so many people standing in solidarity with our community at the Hīkoi.
• Engagements with the University community during Te Herenga Waka Pride Festival.

Our UniQ executive team has been steadily working in the background to improve engagement and collaboration amongst ourselves and with our key partners at the University. This has included a revision of our Memorandum of Understanding with VUWSA, and a stronger connection with Ngāi Tauira to improve representation of takatāpui Māori students on campus.

I took on the role of President after Khai, our previous president stepped down at our AGM this year. It’s daunting following on the amazing work Khai has done, building UniQ into what it is today. I’m stepping into this role with the aspiration to continue UniQ’s progress and help to grow a community where every rainbow student feels safe, supported, and represented on campus.

My main objectives for the year going forward are to further collaborate with other student representative groups such as Ngāi Tauira and the general clubs around campus, and to work on growing in-person engagement at UniQ’s events and get-togethers throughout the year.

Let’s make 2026 bigger and better than ever!

—Dakota Varcoe (they/them), UniQ President

Keep in touch with @uniqthw on Instagram! ​​​​​​

Mauri Ora Gender Affirmative Care Inter-Disciplinary Team

The Gender Affirmative Care Inter-Disciplinary Team is in its eighth year supporting Rainbow students. We approach our mahi with passion to affirm and uplift our transgender and non-binary students, with a focus on wellbeing outcomes.

Our team is comprised of dedicated health and counselling staff members—both Rainbow and Rainbow-allied—who have a specialist training and/or a strong interest in gender-affirming care. We currently have two GP’s, a nurse, and four counsellors on our team.

Earlier this year, we welcomed Einstein Hale—an energetic, experienced, and passionate Clinical Psychotherapist and Mental Health Coordinator. GP James Chua will be joining us in January, bringing a beautiful wairua to our tīma. 

We farewelled two of our Gender Affirmative Nurses, Jimmy and Lulu, in the middle of the year. They moved to other health services, continuing their awesome mahi of improved health care in our communities. 

The number of transgender, non-binary, takatāpui, and rainbow students accessing Mauri Ora services grows yearly. We aim to understand the positive ripple effect of our work on wellbeing for individuals and communities, and see more research opportunities on the horizon. 

At the conference, our GP Rona Carroll will be presenting Beyond the Bubble: innovations to the Mauri Ora model of gender-affirming healthcare in primary practice in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Final words (with their permission) go to Eli, a student, who had this to say about the support they received this year:

The gender-affirming care I've received through Mauri Ora has been holistic, informative, and lifesaving, and I am extremely grateful for the team's support.

We enjoyed another successful seminar programme this year, learning about a range of projects underway at the University, including authorship and embodiment in trans media, challenging binaries within Kāi Tahu wāhine, gender diverse experiences of becoming, and queer histories of the university within Tapuaka, our Heritage & Archives Collections. We also had an absolute pleasure supporting Tīwhanawhana to organise the very first Rangahau Takatāpui Wānanga at Ngā Mokopuna in April, showcasing research at the University by tauira Takatāpui, as well as staff.

We have recordings of all our seminars dating back to 2023, so if you would like to view any of our back-catalogue, please contact us at rainbowresearch@vuw.ac.nz.

Next year, we’re delighted to share that we've received some very generous funding from the University to expand our network’s activities. This programme of work will include a new website, bringing together a wider community of researchers across Aotearoa New Zealand in one place. The funding will also support us to develop an ongoing podcast series that will highlight the dynamic work of our LGBTQIA+ students and staff and demonstrate its impact in the community. Finally, we’re already looking ahead to 2027, where we’ll again play host to the National Rainbow Symposium, which we first held in 2023. We’re excited to expand this national conference to a two-day event and look forward to sharing details with you as they develop.

We’re always keen to hear from students at any level of study, who want to be more involved in LGBTQIA+ research at the university. If you’d like to know more, or get involved with any of our upcoming projects (such as our website, podcast, or national conference), please reach out to us at rainbowresearch@vuw.ac.nz.

Lastly, we’d like to wish you all a well-earned and restful break over the summer, and we look forward to seeing you in 2026! 😊