Growing Up Queer Workshop Series

In February 2024, CAYAD ran a series of three workshops as part of Pride Month in Tāmaki Makaurau focused on providing spaces for queer rangatahi to discuss and learn about topics that will support their transition out of secondary school.

For CAYAD this kaupapa grew out of exploring how to better meet the wellbeing needs of our queer rangatahi within the school system. CAYAD heard from both rangatahi and Health/Education agencies that much of the harm rangatahi experience is emerging during the transition period from school to the next chapter in their lives. Whether heading to university, finding their first job or moving to a new town or flat for the first time – many queer rangatahi experience struggles related to alcohol and drugs (AoD) or poor mental wellbeing.

CAYAD tested an approach steeped in harm reduction, holistic wellbeing and community care by creating spaces for queer rangatahi to engage with each other and access valuable information they can add to their kete.

These spaces were delivered as workshops with specific content and themes that were valuable for queer rangatahi, with subject matter experts present to help deliver each individual workshop.

For the first workshop, we partnered with the NZ Drug foundation for a Safer Partying Workshop aimed at giving rangatahi a space to ask questions about alcohol and drugs, learn about harm reduction strategies and how to stay safe when using.

The second workshop, titled Aro ki te Hā, was led by InsideOut and focused on providing a space for rangatahi to learn about how to build safe, respectful and nurturing relationships with themselves and others.

The third workshop led by Youth Law focused on building knowledge around legal rights with a focus on issues specifically relevant to the queer community in areas such as employment, tenancy and healthcare.

Along with providing valuable spaces for rangatahi to engage with these issues, this kaupapa provided valuable opportunities for future collaboration.

On 19th June 2024, CAYAD attended the Lil Gay Out event that is the Auckland Schools Rainbow Festival. CAYAD had partnered and brought in YouthLaw to lead a session around queer rights and understanding your rights as a queer young person in society. Two sessions were run where there were over 50 students who attended. The sessions covered big pieces of legislation such as the Bill of Rights 1990, Human Rights Act 1993, UNCROC and more recent pieces such as the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 and the revised Privacy Act 2020. Students learnt about how these pieces of legislation translate into their rights at school and how they can continue to advocate and seek professional support where needed.