The History of UniQ Wellington
In 2015, UniQ Massey Wellington was resurrected by Alex Kachfi, the brilliant brain behind producing a huge amount of the drag shows in Wellington and performer Kelly Fornia (soon to retire, go see the Greatest Drag Show if you can). Alex set UniQ up for success by running panels, entering rap battles and getting us a uniform and logo. The next year, I took over as president with two of my good friends Kezia Tubbs and Laya Mutton-Rogers, two excellent illustrators and members of the Aroace community.
We had highs and lows over that time. We had an amazing quiz night at Ivy Bar and Cabaret where we fundraised for organisations supporting the bisexual and gay men in Chechnya that were and still are being persecuted. We ran a multitude of Rainbow Teas with support from Massey University and MAWSA. We also had a tough run with the editors of Massive Magazine at the time who didn’t know how to engage with the Rainbow community on campus and okayed articles that were regressive, or if they did ask for our input, didn’t listen well or asked for very tight turn arounds for unpaid volunteer university students. I am really happy to see Massive asking for input from Queer, Takatāpui and other rainbow creators with plenty of space and time for the breadth and depth of creativity that this community can show. I believe in the concept of people being the experts in their own lives and that can only be tapped into by engaging with the community itself. It is so much better to be able to tell people who we are than to be told who we are by those who are not.
Being part of a community is what makes life as a university whole. Many people can find community through friendships they had pre-university but when I moved into my one-bedroom self-catered hall back in 2015, I was lonely. Finding UniQ and a place to belong through that was so special. I loved my time being an exec and member of this club, I found a community. If you are looking for a community, I highly encourage you to join a club through your campus or distance learning. Right now UniQ is run by Maya Louw, Joanna Sunga and Dawn Wilce and they are doing an amazing job. You can follow them on Instagram @uniq_massey and sign up from there if you like. Each campus will have a UniQ so look out for yours!
Back in 2017 I had a feature in Massive Mag where I did a portrait of Frank Ocean, queer icon and I’m back again to show you some more. I love portraiture and I love people who break gender norms. Rico Nasty is a scream rapper who does it like no other, if you have time to listen to Rage, I recommend it. Gottmik is a drag queen and makeup artist to the stars, proud trans man and gay icon. Dennis Rodman never fit into a mould, though probably isn’t the most unproblematic person I could have drawn. I love that he dated Madonna. Kylie Sonique Love liked this drawing on Instagram, I want everyone to know that. If you’d like to follow me on Instagram at @samanthartist.
I’ve come a long way in my queer journey and I’m still figuring it out. I don’t always identify as a woman, so I think I’m non-binary and I’m attracted to women, men and non-binary people so I think I’m bisexual in the two or more-gender definition of the word. I still get homophobic remarks and still have people calling me girl, woman and lady even though it’s not really me. I still get questioned on all of it, I know we all do. At least I have a beautiful circle of support who love me for me. We do great work. MAWSA is a safe space for queer people. We have gender neutral bathrooms on our floor and our team is full of rainbow staff members. We have free condoms. If that’s my only legacy, I will become the Condom Giver. Be kind to yourself and others. It’s very fun.