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Carmen Rupe
Carmen Rupe (10 October 1936 – 14 December 2011), was a New Zealand drag performer, brothel keeper, anti-discrimination activist, would-be politician and HIV/AIDS activist. Carmen Rupe was New Zealand's first drag queen to reach celebrity status. She was a trans woman. Life Born in Taumarunui, Rupe had twelve siblings. Her mother was of Ngāti Hāua and Ngāti Heke-a-Wai descent, while her father was of Ngāti Maniapoto. She relocated to the urban centres of Auckland and Wellington. After doing drag performances while doing compulsory military training and periods working as a nurse and waiter, Rupe moved to Sydney's Kings Cross in the late 1950s. In the 1970s, she became notorious for the sexually tolerant venues she established in Wellington, and was renowned as a matriarchal figure among local trans communities. Taking the name of the Romani Flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya, Rupe became Australia's first Māori drag performer and from that time on lived as a woman. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taumarunui
Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of Turangi. It is under the jurisdiction of Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region. Its population is as of making it the largest centre for a considerable distance in any direction. It is on State Highway 4 and the North Island Main Trunk railway. The name ''Taumarunui'' is reported to be the dying words of the Māori chief Pehi Turoa – ''taumaru'' meaning screen and ''nui'' big, literally translated as Big Screen, being built to shelter him from the sun, or more commonly known to mean – "The place of big shelter". There are also references to Taumarunui being known as large sheltered location for growing kumara. In the 1980s publication ''Roll Back the Years'' there are some details on how Taumarunui got its name. Extract ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
