It’s easy to spot the home of recently retired Labour MP and former Silver Fern Louisa Wall.
In a row of houses on a narrow street in the Auckland suburb of Manurewa, her home is the one with the giant rainbow flag, a symbol for the LGBTIQA+ community, waving proudly in the wind.
For the past 14 years, Louisa, whose iwi are Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Hineuru, Waikato and Ngāti Kuri, has been waving her own rainbow flag within the halls of Parliament, fighting for the rights of the marginalised and spearheading a historical 2013 bill that legalised same-sex marriage in Aotearoa. To be an openly gay politician responsible for making life-altering changes for the rainbow community is a legacy Louisa is extremely proud of. Her commitment to improving the lives of those who have not had a voice comes from years of experiencing trauma and self-doubt on her own life journey.
As she sips tea with the team from in the home she shares with her wife, Prue Kapua, Louisa starts to shed tears as she remembers a period when she was forced to keep her true identity a secret and harboured feelings of isolation while
