Stephen Laurence Rainbow (born 26 January 1961) is a former New Zealand politician. He is manager of Auckland Transport's key relationships unit.

Biography

Early life

Stephen Rainbow was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in 1961. He grew up on a tobacco farm south of

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and was educated in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Waimea College Waimea College is a co-educational secondary school in Richmond, Tasman District, New Zealand. With a growing roll of 1500+ students from year groups 9–13, Waimea College is equipped with a park-like campus and numerous facilities. History Wa ...

. Later he attended

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

from 1982 and graduated in 1985 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, and in 1991 with a PhD in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Rainbow and his partner Anna Frusin (who was born in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

) had three children together; Alexandra, Larissa and Solomon.

Political career

Rainbow became politically active in the 1970s joining the Labour Party and served on Labour's New Zealand Council. In 1983 he contested the Labour nomination to replace retiring party leader

Bill Rowling Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the parliamentary leader of t ...

in the Tasman seat, but lost to Ken Shirley. He did not renew his membership in 1984 and later joined the newly formed

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

and stood for election in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

for the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

on a Green ticket. He was successful and became the country's first Green councillor. The next year he contested the seat of Wellington Central for the Greens at the general election, finishing third out of seven candidates. Rainbow was opposed to the Green Party's decision to join the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

and declined to stand in the seat at the

1992 Wellington Central by-election The 1992 Wellington Central by-election was a by-election held in the electorate during the 43rd New Zealand Parliament, on 12 December 1992. It was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP Fran Wilde after her election as mayor of Wellington ...

. There were rumours that Rainbow would instead be approached by Labour (which he was formerly a member of) to stand for them. A Labour official downplayed the rumour but did not rule out the possibility. Rainbow himself said he had no official approach from Labour and stated in any event he wished to concentrate on his role as a Wellington City Councillor. Rainbow was re-elected to the Wellington City Council in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. On both occasions he also stood for Mayor without success, finishing fourth in 1992 and seventh in 1995. By 1994 Rainbow was leading the opposition to the Green Party's membership of the

, a broad left-wing coalition, thinking the Alliance's emphasis on social justice type issues detracted focus from environmental issues. In 1995 Rainbow co-founded the Progressive Green Party, a "Bluegreen" environmentalist party with a more

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

emphasis. In 1998 Rainbow decided not to seek re-election. By that time the Progressive Greens had disbanded and most members had joined the "Bluegreen" wing of the National Party, including Rainbow. At the general election he stood as a list only candidate for National, ranked 51 he was not allocated a seat.

Other activities

Rainbow is also a

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

activist. He served as Chairman of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

-based phone support and LGBT advocacy service OUTLine and also a board member of the

New Zealand AIDS Foundation The Burnett Foundation Aotearoa (formerly the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF)) is New Zealand’s national HIV prevention and healthcare organisation. Its funding is derived from grants, donations and the Ministry of Health. The Burnett Found ...

. He campaigned for same sex marriage reform. In 2021 Rainbow was criticised for social media posts seen as transphobic.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rainbow, Stephen 1961 births Living people People educated at Waimea College Victoria University of Wellington alumni Wellington City Councillors New Zealand Labour Party politicians Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand politicians New Zealand National Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1999 New Zealand general election