This is part two of the Carmen Rupe comic – I’ve taken some inspiration from the images from Chrissy Witoko’s collages that sit in Te Papa (they’re really worth checking out).
In terms of the things referenced in the panel – Carmen used the slogan ‘Get in behind Carmen’ when she ran for Mayor of Wellington against Bob Jones – you can read all about it here. She also got called to the Privileges Committee by the Prime Minister after she insinuated that some MPs would frequent her establishment. Vivian St was home to a lot of the clubs and coffee houses like ‘Carmen’s International Coffee Lounge’, ‘The Evergreen’ and ‘The Nutcracker’. Aaaand in 1966 she was arrested and charged with “offensive behaviour” and Rupe’s lawyer successfully argued that there was nothing offensive about her behaviour and no law against men dressing as women. This case established really important precedent that was able to strike down laws against public crossdressing laws all over the world.
And that’s part two, with a little history lesson 🙂 Part three looks a little further forward in time…
I’m not crying… there’s ummm dust in my eye.
I’m so proud to be able to follow in the steps of such brave Wahine Toa like Carmen, or Dana De Milo.
I hope that one day there is a generation of queers looking back on the work we are doing with the same pride.