IGLA 2016 AUCKLAND IGLA Auckland 2016

IGLA in Auckland ...... 3 IGLA Swim Festival ...... 3 West Wave Pool & Leisure Centre ...... 4 Team Auckland Masters Swimmers – IGLA Hosts ...... 5

LGBTI Sports in Auckland ...... 7 Participation ...... 7 Our Community ...... 7

2016 Outgames ...... 8 2016 Outgames Sports Programme ...... 8 Outgames Human Rights Forum ...... 8 Outgames Cultural & Social Programme ...... 9 Outgames Opening Ceremony ...... 10

Auckland City ...... 11 Our City ...... 11 Climate ...... 11 Diversity ...... 11 Transport ...... 11

Travel and Accommodation ...... 12 Air Travel ...... 12 Accommodation ...... 12 Visas ...... 12

Page | ii IGLA in Auckland

IGLA Swim Festival

The proposal is to hold a 4­5 day swimming festival hosted by Team Auckland Masters Swimmers (TAMS) that incorporates the core requirements of IGLA as part of the 2016 Asia­Pacific Outgames. The swim festival comprising competition swim 50­1500m plus relays; diving competition; water polo; synchronised swimming; Pink Flamingo; and some end of meet fun relays is planned to take place at the Auckland Council operated West Wave facility in the west of the city. TAMS has previously organised successful swim meetings, with international participation. In addition to the formal swim programme a pool party will be hosted, which may take part indoors at the West Wave facility or at the 60m Parnell Outdoor Pool (below), with its hot spa, barbecue and catering facilities and sunshine

The open water swim will take place in the sea off one of Auckland’s beaches, potentially Takapuna Beach (below left) or Kohimarama Beach (below right), both of which are within easy reach of the city centre.

The proposed dates to hold the 2016 are between 13 th and 17 th February 2016 – dates to be dependent on confirmation of the Auckland Pride dates for 2016. As Outgames registrants, the Swim Festival participants would have full access to other sports, the Outgames Opening Ceremony & Party; the Closing Ceremony and to the Human Rights Forum. The IGLA 2016 Swim Festival as part of the 2016 Outgames is running in parallel with Auckland Pride, which means a full programme of social and cultural events and parties are taking place. A full programme will be developed in the coming months and will be presented to IGLA for approval. The competition will be run according to IGLA rules and incorporating NZ Masters rules

Page | 3 West Wave Pool & Leisure Centre

West Wave Pool and Leisure Centre is located in Henderson, in the heart of West Auckland, and is proud to be part of the Auckland community. Built for the XIV Commonwealth Games of 1990, West Wave hosts a range of national and international events. The complex comprises: 50­Metre Pool

The competition pool can be configured as two 25 metre pools or a full 50 metre pool to maximise programme opportunities. The 50m pool has been used for regional, national and international championships in the last few years including:

2013 Under 19 National Championships 2009 National Junior Men’s Championships 2013 World FINA League Asia-Oceania Prelims 2009 U18 Open International Tournament 2012 Under 18 National Championships 2009 FINA World League 2012 Panasonic Pan Pacific Youth Water Polo Festival 2008 Pan Pacific Youth Water Polo Championships 2010 National Under 18 Junior Club Championships 2007 Oceania Olympic Qualification Series 2010 Pan Pacific Youth Water Polo Festival

Wave Pool Forget the beach, at West Wave you can play in the surf all year round. The waves are turned on in the leisure pool at random intervals during the below listed times. Hydroslide Come and ride the high speed hydroslide! Twisting and turning until you splash down into the 'lazy river' below. It's a long, dark and exciting ride for those who dare. Dive Pool West Wave Aquatic Centre Dive Pool is home to many club teams including Diving, Water Polo, Underwater Hockey and Underwater Rugby. Spa, Sauna and Steam Relax in our sauna, spa or steam room - or try all three. Let those aches and pains float away in the spa or sweat it out in the sauna or steam room. It's the perfect way to relax, while the others play in the pool or workout in the gym.

Page | 4 Team Auckland Masters Swimmers – IGLA Hosts

Now in our 22 nd year, Team Auckland Masters Swimmers is Aucklands pre­eminent LGBTI sports club and is a New Zealand Masters registered club. TAMS is split roughly 50:50 men to women, and though we are mainly in the 35­60 age group, we have both 20 year old and 60+year old active swimmers. We are a community based team who contribute to the vibrancy of Auckland’s community life on many fronts. Having participated in the Hero Parades, which have now been resurrected as the Pride Parade, we always make a splash and enjoy our performance, even if an ocean swim takes place the same day. We are a family and social team of swimmers and enjoy our non­swimming time equally well. TAMS organise and host an annual ‘grudge’ match swim meet against our sister club in Wellington, at which we swim a standard series of short course individual and relay races, but include some fun races and the all important TAMS relay cup of anything up to 20­relay team members. Theses swim meets also include another (non­community) team based on our ocean swim colleagies, the Straight’o’clockers.

Page | 5 TAMS is run by committee elected at our Annual General Meeting. The 2014­2015 committee comprise the following individuals. We call upoin a number of volunteers to enable not only our swim meets to occur, but also parties and other events.

Ocean swimming during the long Auckland summer season, October to May, is a key activity. We take part in the State Ocean Swim Series of six races around New Zealand, almost weekly races around Auckland in the peak season such as Red Beach (below), and weekly training swims along the buoys at Takapuna Beach. There are also weekly swims at Kohimarama Beach every Thursday evening.

Page | 6 LGBTI Sports in Auckland

Participation

The Auckland LGBTI community, in particular Team Auckland Masters Swimmers, has participated in international sporting events since the first Gay Games were held in San Francisco in 1982. More recently, Auckland was well represented at the 8 th Gay Games Cologne; 2 nd Asia Pacific Outgames, Wellington 2011; the 3 rd World Outgames, Antwerp in 2013 and the 3 rd Asia Pacific Outgames, Darwin 2014 (below).

Our Community

Auckland has had clubs, organisations and businesses serving the LGBT community for over 30 years. The city’s acceptance of diversity means that our community is not ghettoised, and there is no specific ‘gay village’. The city’s LGBT community has also had high­profile involvement in political campaigns, in particular the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill (2013); decriminalisation of male homosexuality (the Homosexual Law Reform Act) and making discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation illegal (Human Rights Amendment Act). Auckland hosts annual LGBTI events including the Big Gay Out held in Coyle Park in February. The Big Gay Out is of a non­profit fair day in that has been running since the 1990s and is organised and run by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation. Now in its 15th year, the LYC Big Gay Out is a cornerstone event on New Zealand’s rainbow calendar. In 2014, more than 13,000 people attended. Auckland Pride is New Zealand’s biggest programme of events for and by the Rainbow Community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Takatāpui, Intersex and Fa’afafine). The Auckland Pride Festival runs for two weeks each February and covers an umbrella of social, cultural and sport events and activities in addition to the Pride Parade (above), Pride Gala and Pride Party.

Page | 7 2016 Outgames

2016 Outgames Sports Programme

Sport is a daily part of life in the Auckland Region, centred on our waterfront and harbour, but including also world class facilities in other parts of the city. Our intention is to hub sports together, to enable more crossover of participation and spectators. At the bid stage, Auckland Outgames 2016 have identified the following as core sports to be delivered and are sports for which initial planning has been undertaken: - Badminton - Dancesport - Lawn Bowls - Netball - Running - Swimming - Ten Pin Bowling - Tennis - Touch Rugby - Track and Field - Volleyball

Soccer, hockey and golf are probable sports which we intend to develop but have not as yet made any headway. Note that for the swimming competition, Team Auckland Masters Swimmers are bidding to host the International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics 2016 Championship as part of the Outgames. Additional sports may feature as the Outgames committee develops the programme and may come to play a part in the games. Sports that have potential to be demonstration sports include Roller Derby, Dragon Boat and Body Building. There are other sports that may be demonstration only, and these would be included for under the Social programme as specific ticketed events. Outgames Human Rights Forum

The organisation of the Human Rights Forum will be guided by te Tiriti o Waitangi, the founding human rights document of Aotearoa/New Zealand, as well as by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other relevant UN documents. Observations about human rights fora at previous Asia Pacific Outgames are that they –  Reflected the human rights issues of the region as the host organisation sees them  Were one­off gatherings with little connection to existing human rights organising by other institutions such as the UN or regional women’s groups  Have had little focus on heteronormativity or discrimination against rainbow communities in sport  Have sometimes felt disconnected from the sporting side of the games and the opening ceremony.

Page | 8 Arising from these human rights principles and observations, our organising of the Human Rights Forum envisages that it will ­  Promote the participation and issues of indigenous peoples in Aotearoa, the Pacific, Pacific Rim and Asian countries, as well as those of other ethnic and cultural groups.  Explore skill­sharing, technology and other sessions of interest to community groups as well as high­ level human rights information for national agencies  Include a focus on the identification and work shopping of co­operative regional projects that meet major needs among the groups represented, and will be ongoing  Provide a forum strand dealing with the issues faced by lesbians, queer and trans women in the Asia­ Pacific  Provide a forum strand dealing with heteronormativity and discrimination against rainbow communities in sport, including speakers from campaigns against this  Focus on the state of human rights for queer and trans people in each Asia Pacific country, with a regional goal of decriminalisation of same­sex sexual activity and human rights protection for people of all sexual and gender identities  Work with the Auckland Pride Festival’s NXT Youth Conference to ensure significant representation of young people as participants and presenters  Build caucus time into the programme for indigenous peoples, women, transgender and third sex organisations, intersex people, gay men, and other self­identified groups wanting to network with their peers As part of planning, we will consult widely with Asian and Pacific Queer and Trans organisations about the issues they want addressed and the processes they find comfortable. The needs of communities from small island states are very different from those of industrialised countries or large Asian cities, for example. As fora like these are often outside the financial reach of those to whom they are most critical, we will also explore innovative sliding scale pricing for the forum, and discounted pricing for sports participants who want to attend. To promote the Human Rights Forum at a community and international level, community­based introductions will be held through 2015, which will help identify key issues for inclusion into the programme. We hope the legacy of the Auckland OutGames will be project­based changes at community level and the connection and ongoing communication and support between communities of different identities, ethnicities and cultures. Initial discussions have been held with the Auckland Convention Bureau, part of ATEED, and with Waterfront Auckland on the hosting of the Human Rights Forum in a Central location. Outgames Cultural & Social Programme

Auckland Outgames 2016 intend to work in partnership with Auckland Pride to bring together a series of cultural and social events under the Pride umbrella to provide the best outcome for our community and visitors, effectively utilising some of the already organised events of the festival to deliver pats of the cultural pillar of the OutGames. Auckland Pride is a two week long festival that begins with a festival day called the ‘Big Gay Out’, and a variety performance – the ‘Pride Gala’. A range of community events then occur over the following two weeks, culminating in the Pride Parade on the final day.

Page | 9 It is noted that a precedent for different community events being run in conjunction with Auckland Pride has already been set. NZ Bear Week is already run in conjunction with the Pride Festival. A hub space will be developed at a core location, ideally at the Waterfront which will include for a Women’s space but also a shopping alley of support and sports organisations to provide additional options for our participants and visitors. A partner’s programme will be established to ensure that partners of registrants visiting Auckland will be catered for. Outgames Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony would include traditional Maori elements of welcome through Ngati Whatua Orakei participation, and traditional and contemporary entertainment particular to Auckland City. A high profile central location is envisaged for the opening ceremony with suggested venues including the Cloud/Shed 10 located on the waterfront or Auckland war Memorial Museum.

Page | 10 Auckland City

Our City

The population of the Auckland metropolitan area is 1.5 million people and the population of the urban area is 1.4 million. Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city, and accounts for approximately one third of the country’s population. Auckland has a subtropical climate, with warm, humid summers and mild, damp winters. Auckland lies on and around an isthmus, less than two kilometres wide at its narrowest point, between Mangere Inlet and the Tamaki River. There are two harbours in the Auckland urban area surrounding this isthmus: Waitemata Harbour to the north, which opens east to the Hauraki Gulf and Manukau Harbour to the south, which opens west to the Tasman Sea. The total coastline of Auckland is 3,702 km in length. Auckland straddles the Auckland volcanic field, which has produced about 50 volcanoes. These take the form of cones, lakes, lagoons, islands and depressions, and several have produced extensive lava flows. Some of the cones have been partly or completely quarried away. The individual volcanoes are all considered extinct, although the volcanic field itself is merely dormant. Auckland has at least 14 large lava tube caves which run from the volcanoes down towards the sea Auckland is rated the third most livable city in the world, and best city in Asia­Pacific in the Mercer Quality of Living scale (2012). It is consistently ranked one of the world’s best places to live, not just for its huge variety of activities, but for its cleanliness, infrastructure, people and climate. Climate

The mean daily air temperature during January and February is 23 oC (74 o F). The average seawater temperature is 21.2 oC (70.1 oF), with a maximum of 22.9 oC (73.2 oF) Diversity

Auckland has an ethnically diverse population. The 2013 census found that people of Asian ethnicity make up almost 20% of Auckland’s population. Auckland also has the largest population of Pacific Islanders anywhere in the world with almost 200,000 living in the city (12.5% of the city’s population). Auckland is also home to over 140,000 Maori making up almost 10% of the population. Transport

Auckland has an integrated ferry, bus and rail transport system, which will provide easy access to and between the swim venue in Henderson and the central city hub. We are investigating the inclusion of an integrated transport card as part of participant registration for IGLA and/or the Outgames. It is anticipated that all venues for the 2016 Outgames will be within easy reach by public transport and will have adequate access to car parking facilities.

Page | 11 Travel and Accommodation

Air Travel

Auckland Airport is the major connection between the world and “the land of the long white cloud”. It is where New Zealand touches the world ­ welcoming visitors and farewelling friends. Auckland Airport has been voted as one of the 10 best airports in the world twice in the past three years, and is a major driver of the economy. Over 70 per cent of visitors enter or leave New Zealand via Auckland Airport, which handles over 14 million passengers a year. More than 20 international airlines serve Auckland Airport, Australasia’s second busiest international airport, after Sydney. With two, some days three non­stop flights from Los Angeles; one some days two non­stop daily flights from San Francisco and daily non­stop flights from Vancouver and Honolulu, North America is well connected by Air New Zealand. There are also daily flights on Hawaiian Airlines from Honolulu with connections from multiple US cities. One stop daily flights are on Fiji Airways via Nadi from Los Angeles and several times a week via Tahiti on Air Tahiti Nui. Connections also exist via Sydney on Qantas, United, Delta, Virgin Australia and Air Canada. Auckland is directly linked to Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne by multiple daily flights, to Adelaide, Perth, Cairns, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast by daily flights and non­stop flights to Bali, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taipei, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul and to numerous Pacific Islands for post event R&R. A welcome booth is planned for the airport arrivals area during the first few days of the Outgames, those being the swim festival days. Accommodation

There are approximately 6,000 hotel rooms in Auckland’s Central city, and 9,000 or so across the region. In addition, Auckland has extensive motel (approximately 3,900 rooms) and backpacker (approximately 4,700 beds) accommodation options. Boutique accommodation providers such as bed and breakfasts, and private renting options such as campervans, are also heavily utilised. Home based accommodation caters for thousands more visitors to Auckland, including event attendees. Visas

Visitors under the following categories do not require a visitor visa for entry into New Zealand. All others will have to apply for a visitor visa. - New Zealand or Australian citizen - New Zealand resident visa or a New Zealand permanent resident visa - Australian permanent residence visa or a current Australian resident return visa. - From a visa­waiver country, and intending to visit for no more than your allotted time of three months, including the US, or six months if you are from the United Kingdom.

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