If Reihana Marx is successful in Tauranga’s election this year, she believes she will be the first transgender woman elected to the city council.

The 25-year-old student is standing for the Te Papa ward. She is one of 86 candidates vying for seats in the election.

Marx hopes to provide the same kind of inspiration for others as she drew from “trailblazer” former Carterton mayor and Wairarapa MP Georgina Beyer.

Marx (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāpuhi, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) says she wants to be a “voice for the community”.

“Certain people need to be represented in council. Everyone’s voices [should] be heard because it’s not only one group of people living in Tauranga,” says Marx/

In Tauranga, 10 per cent of people identify as LGBTI, according to council data.

Marx attended school in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga and in Australia before returning to New Zealand about five years ago when she worked in Auckland as a healthcare assistant.

She says it was through this work, and becoming a smokefree practitioner and volunteer at Tauranga and Whakatāne hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic, that she realised how important representation was for certain communities.

“I think that was the first time where I’ve seen, firsthand, inequity addressed in a fast and kind of diverse way. We had all sorts of people with all sorts of background … it was the best form of teamwork I’d ever seen and [it’s] that kind of teamwork we need, in the council.”

Marx is studying political science and social policy at the University of Waikato and will reduce her studies if elected.

She says she has not been to any council meetings.

“I don’t have much experience … I do have, surrounded around me, experts and people who know those fields that I can go to and ask for advice,” she says.

Marx works as a peer support at Gender Dynamix New Zealand and says her “community-focused” career background also mitigated the lack of local government experience.

She lists infrastructure, public transport, housing and parking as key issues that need addressing.

She says the city needs both intensification and urban sprawl to cope with its growing population.

“I think certain areas could be expanded but areas like Te Papa, where there’s kind of no more space available, we have to utilise what we already have and I think we’re starting to get to that point where a lot of suburbs are like that.”

Marx says electing a good council team will help Tauranga tackle those issues.

She references the work of Beyer, the world’s first openly transgender mayor and MP.

Beyer, who died on March 6, 2023 aged 65, is a key influence in Marx’s decision to stand for council.

Former mayor and MP Georgina Beyer, pictured shortly after receiving an MNZM for services to LGBTI rights. Photo / Mark Tantrum.

Marx says she watched footage of Beyer in 2004 confronting Destiny Church members protesting civil unions and was moved by Beyer’s mana and advocacy for the Rainbow community.

“She led the takatāpui (LGBTI) movement in ways that I hope to be able to.

“She has inspired me to kind of stand up and be more political and voice concerns and struggles for the takatāpui community.”

Marx began her transition journey in 2021 and says she's prepared for what the election campaign might throw at her, particularly criticism from conservative sectors of society.

“Just being takatāpui in itself is a struggle. I’ve already had to kind of create my own safe space and my own kind of network I can go to to be supported.

“So, it’s nothing new to me. I understand it’s going to be more intense and more frequent but I’m honestly used to it … being looked at sideways, going to malls, walking down the streets. That doesn’t bother me anymore.”

A 2023 Tauranga Vital Update survey report found 56 per cent of Rainbow community respondents believed the city was “fairly” to “very” welcoming and 61 per cent said they felt lonely some or all of the time; compared to 36 per cent overall.

Marx says recent incidents in New Zealand targeting LGBTI people, such as rainbow crossings being painted over, and threats targeting Rainbow storytime, meant some in the community felt so unsafe they could not leave their homes.

“I want to show those people that there is support out there for them and that there are people fighting for them and their rights … I hope I can get that chance to be that someone that they can look up to.”

Marx says Tauranga’s first city council election in five years is an opportunity to create a better and more inclusive city: “I think Tauranga’s ready”.

In 2020, the Local Government Minister sacked the elected council and replaced it with commissioners, whose term ends in July with the election.

A Tauranga City Council spokesperson says the council doesn't collect data on the gender of elected members but staff don't believe a transgender person has been elected before.

Electoral officer Warwick Lampp says data is not collected about candidates’ gender.

Marx says from her research, she believes she could be Tauranga’s first transgender councillor.

“That victory, if I do get elected, would kind of be a victory for the entire city and New Zealand.”

When is the Tauranga election?

June 29-July 3: Voting papers delivered

June 29: Special voting begins

July 17: Last day to post your voting form

July 19: Last day to enrol and be able to vote

July 20: Election day, voting closes at noon

July 20: Preliminary results announced

July 23-25: Final results due

Source: Tauranga City Council

-Bay of Plenty Times.