Hero Parade

According to its original organisers, the Hero Parade was intended to foster a sense of community amongst LGBTQ people, and acknowledge those who were fighting HIV/AIDS.{{Cite web |date=2020-03-13 |title=A history of pride in Aotearoa New Zealand |url=https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/discover-collections/read-watch-play/lgbtqi-histories-aotearoa-new-zealand/history-pride-aotearoa |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ |language=en}} The event was attended by more than one hundred thousand people annually, (and at its height, by as many as two hundred thousand).{{cite web |url= http://www.qna.net.nz/news/515.html |title=HERO Parade and party, Auckland, New Zealand |work=qna.net.nz |date=18 February 1996 |access-date=17 June 2012}}

From 1992-1995, the Hero Parade procession took place on Queen Street, in the Central Business District of Auckland. However, in 1996, it was relocated to Ponsonby Road.{{Cite journal |last=Johnston |first=Lynda |date=1997 |title=Queen(s') Street or Ponsonby Poofters? Embodied HERO Parade Sites |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-7939.1997.tb00496.x |journal=New Zealand Geographer |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=29–33|doi=10.1111/j.1745-7939.1997.tb00496.x }} In 1998 the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt Hon Jenny Shipley, of the National Party attended and spoke at the parade for the first time.{{Cite web |last=Screen |first=NZ On |title=1998 Hero Parade {{!}} Television {{!}} NZ On Screen |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/hero-parade-1998 |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=www.nzonscreen.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=McQueen |first=Erica |date=2017-02-23 |title=Pride and Progress: The Past and the Future of Auckland's Pride Parade |url=https://tearaway.co.nz/pride-progress-past-future-aucklands-pride-parade/ |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=Tearaway |language=en-NZ}} Shipley was also present at the parade in 1999{{Cite web |title=Government Working To Protect Rights Of All Nzers {{!}} Beehive.govt.nz |url=https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-working-protect-rights-all-nzers |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=www.beehive.govt.nz |language=en}} The Leader of the Opposition, Rt Hon Helen Clark had also attended the Parade several times. The Hero Parade was initiated with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Notable people who launched the parade included Georgina Beyer and Joe Hawke.

The parade faced opposition advertising from an organisation called Stop Promoting Homosexuality International, prompting complaints to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-31 |title=Anti-Hero Parade ad stirs protest |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/anti-hero-parade-ad-stirs-protest/KDKWESRYJ2MTXDLNQTDL3ADZWM/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}} Opposition also came from Deputy-Mayor David Hay, who attempted to have the parade cancelled.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-01 |title=Auckland's Pride festival: What went wrong? |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/aucklands-pride-festival-what-went-wrong/SJECKG3PFZXLD4KPL7IF5PDEQ4/ |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}}

Despite being relatively well-attended, the Hero Parade faced financial pressures. In 1998, the Auckland City Promotions Committee voted against funding the Parade. A complaint against the Committee was made to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, alleging "discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation". The Commission reported that it could not find any evidence of discrimination. Fundraising for the 1998 parade was carried out by Metro magazine. The 2000 Hero Parade was cancelled due to a lack of funding. The final Hero Parade took place in 2001. In 2002, the Hero Charitable Trust was believed to be in $140,000 debt.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-01 |title=Hero parade in further doubt after Society wound up |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/hero-parade-in-further-doubt-after-society-wound-up/2OX7HNGMPQ77WZ3I4UIPIRU6T4/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}}

2013 saw the return of the Hero festival as the Auckland Pride Festival for the first time in 12 years. The Auckland Pride Festival once again featured a parade along Ponsonby Road (during the day rather than at night), as well as a large closing party in the newly renovated Victoria Park.{{Cite web |last= |last2= |first2= |last3= |first3= |date=4 September 2012 |title=Auckland Pride Parade Route and Time Confirmed |url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1209/S00071/auckland-pride-parade-route-and-time-confirmed.htm |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Scoop Media}}

• LGBT rights in New Zealand
• Gay pride parades

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealandInBrief/Society/4/ENZ-Resources/Standard/2/en Photos - Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927191430/http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealandInBrief/Society/4/ENZ-Resources/Standard/2/en |date=2007-09-27 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20041125081240/http://www.hrc.co.nz/index.php?p=13796&format=text&id=153 Human Rights Commission comment on discrimination complaint (Google cache)]
• [http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/hero-parade-1998/overview Hero Parade] (1998), hour-long TV broadcast, NZ On Screen

{{Pride parades}}

{{LGBT in New Zealand}}

Category:Events in Auckland

Category:Pride parades in New Zealand

Category:Recurring events established in 1992

Category:Recurring events disestablished in 2001

Category:1992 establishments in New Zealand

Category:2001 disestablishments in New Zealand

Category:Parades in New Zealand

Category:LGBTQ culture in Auckland