Poutokomanawa comic

This comic was created by queer trans illustrator, comic creator and designer Sam Orchard after seeing the exhibition Poutokomanawa: The Carmen Rupe Generation at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington, in 2019. Poutokomanawa featured portraits and stories of transgender women in Carmen Rupe's generation including Chrissy Witoko, Georgina Beyer and Dana de Milo, and celebrated their role as pou tokomanawa (the centre pole supporting the ridge pole of a meeting house) for the community.

The comic includes many rich textual and visual references to LGBTQI+ histories, including objects from Te Papa’s collections which were on display in the exhibition (‘Carmen for Mayor’ election advertising and the police helmet given to her on her 70th birthday); Chrissy Witoko’s Evergreen Coffee Lounge in Wellington; Homosexual Law Reform; Pride and trans flags; ‘Solidarity with Sex Workers’ placard; newspaper headlines about Carmen Rupe in trouble with police and Parliament; Carmen with Bob Jones (who supported her bid for mayor in 1977); Vivian Street (a former red light district in Wellington); a protest march calling for ‘Trans Healthcare Now’; newspaper headlines including Israel Folau (a controversial homophobic Australian rugby league player); and reference to the delay of reforming the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 1995 (BDMRR). The comic focuses in particular on the 2019 community report ‘Counting Ourselves’ about trans and non-binary people in New Zealand, highlighting sobering statistics on sexual violence, mental health issues, discrimination, hardship in finding jobs and housing and accessing healthcare.

Sam Orchard appears as the narrator of the comic: ‘Last week the NZ Portrait gallery unveiled a portrait of Carmen Rupe. She’s the first (out) trans person in the gallery’s permanent collection. It is pretty overwhelming to hear the stories of her and the other trans women of her generation…What they created, what they went through, who they were, And what that means for us now. They made spaces to be family, to live, and to build community. They pushed back and stood out when they could. And ducked and withdrew when they needed to. And they changed the world for us. So that we could keep working for change. And we have to keep changing the world. In the last month the "Counting Ourselves" report came out. It’s the largest survey of trans & non-binary people in NZ, ever. The results are…harrowing. But also not surprising. And layering in disability, ethnicity, age, identity, and location show that some populations have it even harder. It’s clear that it’s still pretty tough to be trans or non-binary in this world. We’re still learning how to push back and stand out when we can. And how to duck and withdraw when we need to. To keep the world changing. So that we can honour their legacy.’