[ad_1]
Activist and politician Georgina Beyer was remembered by luminaries, friends and colleagues as a trailblazer and champion of all the people she represented.
The world’s first openly transgender MP, Beyer died on Monday in hospice care.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Beyer had made a lasting impression on Parliament.
“Georgina has blazed a trail.”
READ MORE:
* From ‘one queen to another’ – Georgina Beyer recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours
* Former politician Georgina Beyer invited to speak at the Oxford Union
* Georgina Beyer discusses New Zealand’s LGBTQI+ history ahead of Auckland Pride Festival
Beyer (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou) served as mayor of Carterton for five years, from 1995, before being elected as MP for Wairarapa for Labour.
She beat broadcaster Paul Henry for the seat, which she held for six years, and she continued as a Labour list MP until 2007.
Monique Ford/Stuff
Before a life-saving kidney transplant in 2017, Georgina Beyer was on dialysis four times a day, seven days a week.
She was proud of the campaigns for the Civil Union Bill and the Prostitution Reform Bill, both of which she supported, and for delivering on promises to her constituents.
As well as being a politician and activist, Beyer played many roles across her 65 years.
Beyer is remembered as a “very influential and trailblazing Member of Parliament”.
She had been a sex worker, actor and drag queen, and she was also a vocal activist for LGBTQI rights.
In 2020, she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the rainbow community.
Former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Helen Clark remembered Beyer’s way with words.
“Georgina had a sharp wit which was a great asset in the parliamentary debating chamber. She was always a favourite in Labour’s fundraising debates, including in my electorate.
“Even though her wit on those occasions was somewhat risqué, her lines always brought the house down.”
Monique Ford/Stuff
Beyer died on March 6 in hospice care.
Former Carterton mayor John Booth remembered Beyer as a local leader who was also effectual at grassroots level. As a constituent back in the 1990s Booth was impressed with how she would respond to residents’ concerns.
“She was one of those people who would come out if there was a problem and have a look at things.
“She got off her butt, got involved and made things happen.”
Labour’s Northcote MP Shanan Halbert, who was also the chairperson of the party’s rainbow caucus, said the caucus was “deeply saddened” by news of Beyer’s death.
“She was a trailblazer in the rainbow community for providing a voice and leadership to our community,” he said.
Phil Reid/Stuff
Beyer embraces then Labour MP Tim Barnett when the Prostitution Reform Bill passed.
Beyer had a kidney transplant in 2017 followed four years of end-stage renal failure.
Her friend Scott Kennedy said Beyer had continued to “battle on” following her kidney transplant, but her health had deteriorated over the past two weeks.
She died at 3.30pm on Monday in hospice care after weeks of deteriorating health.
“She was a champion of human rights and gender identity, and will be greatly missed, not only in the rainbow community, but across New Zealand,” Kennedy said in a statement.
Beyer’s friends said there would be no funeral at her request, but they were planning on holding a memorial service.
Neil Mackenzie/Stuff
Georgina Beyer and dance partner Michael Hoggard during Dancing With The Stars in 2005.
[ad_2]