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Overview
These imitation fur fabric shorts were worn by a gay man to the dance parties 'Devotion' and 'Deus' in Wellington in the mid-1990s.
Devotion dance parties and parades were held annually in Wellington in the 1990s*. Devotion was one of New Zealand's biggest LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex) community events of the 1990s. Along with the Hero Festival in Auckland, the dance parties, parades, film festivals and associated activities drew huge crowds. They were vibrant and safe places to publicly express identity and sexuality, and were welcoming to all.
The 1990s saw a blossoming of queer pride, following on from Homosexual Law Reform in 1986. The Devotion and Hero festivals were some of the more public expressions of change in New Zealand society.
*The first Devotion party was held on 7 December 1991 in the Overseas Passenger Terminal on Wellington's waterfront, with the last Devotion held in the same place on 14 February 1998.