Jennifer Daphne Rowan (formerly Simpson; born October 1949) is a New Zealand former politician. She served as

mayor of Kapiti Coast The Mayor of Kapiti Coast officiates over the Kapiti Coast District of New Zealand's North Island. Janet Holborow is the current mayor of Kapiti Coast. She was elected to the position in 2022. List of mayors Since its inception in 1989, Kapiti ...

from 2007 to 2013, and was the first openly lesbian mayor in the country.

Career

Rowan was mayor of Inglewood District from 1986 until the

1989 local government reforms The 1989 New Zealand local government reform was the most significant reform of local government in New Zealand in over a century. Some 850 local bodies were amalgamated into 86 local authorities, made up of regional and territorial levels. Backg ...

. She was then elected to the

Taranaki Regional Council Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

and served as deputy chair until 1991. She was a commissioner of the Environment Court of New Zealand from 1991 to 2007, and served as deputy chair of the Paekākāriki Community Board from 2004 to 2006. Rowan was elected mayor of Kapiti Coast in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, defeating six opponents including former mayor Iride McCloy. Major issues of her mayoralty included council spending, the

Kapiti Expressway The Kapiti Expressway is a four-lane grade-separated expressway on New Zealand's State Highway 1 (New Zealand), State Highway 1 route through the Kapiti Coast north of Wellington. From the northernmost terminus of the Transmission Gully Motorwa ...

sea level rise Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cry ...

, and water metering. These issues led to her failing to be re-elected in 2013, placing third behind Ross Church and K Gurunathan.

Personal life

In 1995, Rowan and her partner Juliet "Jools" Joslin were one of three lesbian couples who unsuccessfully applied for marriage licences. In January 1996, they took part in a commitment ceremony in Wellington. They took their case to the High Court in '' Quilter v Attorney-General'' in May, but the court ruled against them and the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling in December 1997. On 30 November 1998, they sued New Zealand before the

United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per y ...

. The committee rejected the case on 17 July 2002. In 2006, they flew to Canada to be legally married. On 17 April 2013, they were in the public gallery to witness the passing of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013, which legalised same-sex marriage in New Zealand. Rowan was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

, for public services, in the

1990 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1990 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

. She was also awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowan, Jenny 1949 births Living people Mayors of places in the Wellington Region Mayors of places in Taranaki Women mayors of places in New Zealand LGBT mayors of places in New Zealand New Zealand LGBT politicians Lesbian politicians New Zealand LGBT rights activists Taranaki regional councillors Companions of the Queen's Service Order New Zealand justices of the peace