Connect

Build relationships with local rainbow groups and organisations

Whether you’re working directly with clients, or you’re a manager thinking about how to improve your service, you’ll be better able to support takatāpui and rainbow people if you have active working relationships with rainbow groups and organisations in your area.

There’s a list of links to rainbow organisations at the end of this page. Some things to think about before you connect:

  • Do some research first. Identify which organisations might be relevant to the clients you work with, and what kinds of services they provide. Read the list below, have a look at organisations’ websites, talk to your rainbow clients or staff about which organisations they know. This will give you some idea of what capacity the organisation might have to connect with you, and help you think about what questions to ask them.

  • Connect with them to find out what they offer and what they are working on currently. How could you collaborate to better support rainbow people in your area? Think about short and long term goals - in what ways could you support each other’s work?

  • You might want to offer referrals between your organisations. Find out what services they offer, and provide information about what your organisation offers. Think about how you can connect your service users to these spaces. Are there pathways between your organisation and rainbow organisations?

  • Explore whether there are ways you could share your organisational resources. For example, are there opportunities to provide physical spaces at your service for rainbow groups to meet face to face? Could the rainbow organisation share any suggestions or feedback about improving your service? If you have a budget for it, can you offer payment for their time?

Rainbow support organisations:

RainbowYOUTH provides resources, support, connection, and advocacy for queer, gender diverse, takatāpui, and intersex people in Aotearoa. RainbowYOUTH also has an Auckland-based homelessness service for rainbow young people (up to 27) who are at risk of, or who are experiencing, homelessness.

OutLine provides support to the rainbow community, their friends, whānau, and those questioning through a confidential, volunteer-led support line and counselling with rainbow-identified counsellors. Free call 0800 OUTLINE (0800 688 5463) any evening between 6pm and 9pm to talk to a trained volunteer, or chat at www.outline.org.nz/chat.

Adhikaar Aotearoa provides advocacy, education and support for LGBTQIA+ people of colour, particularly South Asians, in Aotearoa.

F'ine provides MVPFAFF+ / Pasifika LGBTQI+, rainbow & queer people and their whānau/fanau in Auckland with pathways and connections to support services.

Village Collective (Rainbow Fale) empowers Pasifika youth to make better-informed decisions about their sexual health and overall wellbeing. The Rainbow Fale works specifically to empower MVPFAFF+ young people.

Gender Minorities Aotearoa supports transgender people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds, and provide one-to-one peer support and information nationwide.

Rainbow Path is an advocacy and peer support group for the rights of Rainbow refugees and asylum seekers living in Aotearoa

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa provides sexual health advocacy, education and support to communities most affected by HIV

InsideOUT provides resources, education, consulting and support related to rainbow young people, with a particular focus on school inclusion.

Intersex Aotearoa is an intersex-led non-profit organisation that provides affirmation, advocacy and referral for intersex people and their whānau.

Tīwhanawhana is a takatāpui community group (based in Wellington, but with a national scope). The kaupapa of the group is primarily for takatāpui: building community, telling stories and leaving a legacy. One of their initiatives, takatapui.nz, is a resource hub for takatāpui and their whānau.

Nevertheless focuses on Māori, Pasifika and Takatāpui Rainbow+ mental health by creating safe spaces for people to “be free to be heard, free to be seen and free to be their full authentic selves without denying any part of their holistic identity out of shame or stigma”.

Rainbow Hub Waikato is based in Hamilton Central and provides support services for rainbow people within the Waikato/Hauraki region.

Ngā Uri o Whiti Te Rā Mai Le Moana Trust provides a youth hub in Porirua that includes a specific focus on Pasifika and Māori MVPFAFF+ and rainbow rangatahi.

Q-Youth is a Nelson-based organisation that provides support, information, advocacy and education for LGBTQ+ young people and their friends, whānau and communities. They run regular social groups from their space in central Nelson.

Qtopia provides support for rainbow young people in Ōtautahi Christchurch and the wider Waitaha Canterbury area. They provide regular support groups and social events in central Christchurch for rainbow young people and their whānau.

Mana Tipua, Mana Ora is a Christchurch-based kaupapa Māori group for rangatahi takatāpui and Māori LGBTQIA+ young people. They run group catch ups, as well as themed wānanga and hui that engage rangatahi in mātauranga and tikanga Māori through taonga tuku iho practises.