Part 3: Our communities take action Our Forgotten Epidemic

The people most affected by AIDS in the early 1980s were gay men, people who injected drugs and sex workers — those who were already on the margins of society.

At that time in New Zealand, all anal sex, the possession of drug paraphernalia and sex work were illegal. As the threat of HIV and AIDS became more widely known, the stigma and discrimination these communities faced only intensified.

Something had to change — starting with those archaic laws. This was an ugly time for our nation; but it was also a time of perseverance, hope, and standing up for our human rights.


Thanks for listening to Our Forgotten Epidemic, a show about Aotearoa New Zealand’s response to HIV and AIDS, and some of the many brave individuals who changed the course of history.

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa is proud to be able to tell part of this important story from the perspectives of some truly remarkable people. And we want to acknowledge there’s so much more than we can tell in this short series. 


Our Forgotten Epidemic was produced by Wavelength Creative, in collaboration with Burnett Foundation Aotearoa.
Written and researched by Alyssa Partington, Matt Bain and Dr Jason Myers.
Music composed by Alex Cox | alexcoxmusic.com
Hosted and narrated by Dr Jason Myers.
Many of the voices you’ve heard in this episode are from a series of interviews conducted by Dr Cheryl Ware in 2019 for the New Zealand AIDS Foundation Oral History Project.
Thanks to Pride NZ for allowing us to use portions of an interview with Bruce Kilmister. You can listen to this interview in full, alongside many others, at PrideNZ.com
Thanks to Ian Kaihe-Wetting for the reading of Tūtānekai and Tiki.
The audio concerning Homosexual Law Reform you heard in this episode was recorded in Parliament House, and is held at the Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand, Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa (LAGANZ).
The radio clips you heard in this episode were from a Radio Gala Auckland broadcast, now held at the Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand, Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa (LAGANZ).
Special thanks to our test listeners including staff living with HIV at Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, Gareth Watkins, the Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand and PrideNZ.com
Special thanks also goes to Peter Davis for his excellent book, Intimate Details and Vital Statistics: AIDS, Sexuality and the Social Order in New Zealand.

This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.