Stephen Rainbow
Stephen Rainbow | |
---|---|
Member of the Wellington City Council | |
In office 14 October 1989 – 14 October 1995 Serving with Terry McDavitt, Russell Armitage, Rex Nicholls, Liz Thomas | |
Ward | Lambton Ward |
Preceded by | Margaret Bonner |
Succeeded by | Ward abolished |
In office 14 October 1995 – 10 October 1998 Serving with Celia Wade-Brown, Sue Piper, John Gilberthorpe | |
Ward | Southern Ward |
Preceded by | Peter Parussini |
Succeeded by | Alick Shaw |
Personal details | |
Born | Christchurch, New Zealand | 26 January 1961
Political party | Labour Party (1977–84) Green Party (1989–95) Progressive Green (1995–99) National (1999) |
Alma mater | Victoria University of Wellington |
Stephen Laurence Rainbow (born 26 January 1961) is a former New Zealand politician. He is manager of Auckland Transport's key relationships unit.[1]
Biography[]
Early life[]
Stephen Rainbow was born in Christchurch in 1961. He grew up on a tobacco farm south of Nelson and was educated in Richmond at Waimea College.[2] Later he attended Victoria University of Wellington from 1982 and graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts, and in 1991 with a PhD in Political Science.[3]
Rainbow and his partner Anna Frusin (who was born in the Soviet Union) had three children together; Alexandra, Larissa and Solomon.[3]
Political career[]
Rainbow became politically active in the 1970s joining the Labour Party and served on Labour's New Zealand Council.[3] In 1983 he contested the Labour nomination to replace retiring party leader Bill Rowling in the Tasman seat, but lost to Ken Shirley.[2][4] He did not renew his membership in 1984 and later joined the newly formed Green Party and stood for election in 1989 for the Wellington City Council on a Green ticket. He was successful and became the country's first Green councillor.[5] The next year he contested the seat of Wellington Central for the Greens at the 1990 general election, finishing third out of seven candidates.[6]
Rainbow was re-elected to the Wellington City Council in 1992 and 1995. On both occasions he also stood for Mayor without success, finishing fourth in 1992 and seventh in 1995.[7][8]
By 1994 Rainbow was leading the opposition to the Green Party's membership of the Alliance, a broad left-wing coalition, thinking the Alliance's emphasis on social justice type issues detracted focus from environmental issues.[9][10] In 1995 Rainbow co-founded the Progressive Green Party, a "Bluegreen" environmentalist party with a more right-wing emphasis.
In 1998 Rainbow decided not to seek re-election. By that time the Progressive Greens had disbanded and most members had joined the "Bluegreen" wing of the National Party, including Rainbow. At the 1999 general election he stood as a list only candidate for National, ranked 51 he was not allocated a seat.[11]
Other activities[]
Rainbow is also a gay rights activist. He served as Chairman of Auckland-based phone support and LGBT advocacy service OUTLine and also a board member of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation.[12] He campaigned for same sex marriage reform. [13]
In 2021 Rainbow was criticised for social media posts seen as transphobic.[14]
Notes[]
- ^ "Rail-link property owners being sounded out". NZHerald.co.nz. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Naylor, Shani (8 January 1990). "Green's a Good Colour for Steve Rainbow". The Evening Post.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Taylor 1998, pp. 613.
- ^ "Labour contender for Tasman". The Press. 15 August 1983. p. 2.
- ^ Zatorski, Lidia (7 April 1999). "Green Rainbow could be on Blues party list". The Evening Post. p. 3.
- ^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990.
- ^ Bly, Ross (1992). City of Wellington: Local Body Elections, 1992 (Report). Wellington City Council.
- ^ "How You Voted". The Evening Post. 9 October 1995. p. 14.
- ^ Scherer, Karyn (3 May 1994). "Dissident Greens may form new party". The Evening Post.
- ^ Edwards, Brent (16 May 1994). "Breakaway party no threat, says Alliance leader". The Evening Post.
- ^ "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ "Stephen Rainbow becomes new OUTLine Chair". GayNZ.com. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
- ^ "Stephen Rainbow: Anti gay diatribe just as hurtful". The New Zealand Herald. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- ^ "Auckland Transport investigating manager's Facebook post about gay conversion therapy". Stuff.co.nz. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
References[]
- Taylor, Alister, ed. (1998). New Zealand Who's Who, 1998 edition. Auckland. ISSN 1172-9813.
- 1961 births
- Living people
- People educated at Waimea College
- Victoria University of Wellington alumni
- Wellington City Councillors
- New Zealand Labour Party politicians
- Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand politicians
- New Zealand National Party politicians
- Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election
- Unsuccessful candidates in the 1999 New Zealand general election