Ramon Te Wake (born 25 March 1976) is a New Zealand

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

documentarian, singer-songwriter and television presenter. Her first presenting job was for

Māori Television Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, where she was one of three people fronting '' Takatāpui'', which is Maori Television's first ever

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

show.

Early life

Te Wake was born in

Dargaville Dargaville () is a town located in the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the bank of the Northern Wairoa River (Northland), Wairoa River in the Kaipara District of the Northland Region, Northland region. Dargaville is located south ...

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

parents Ray and Tilly Te Wake."The Making of Ramon"
documentary film She is the decentdant of Heremia Te Wake who was a notable tribe leader, who is the father of respected kuia (

elder), Dame Whina Cooper. She grew up in Ascot Park, a suburb in

Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...

. She moved to

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in the early 1990s, and then to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

shortly after.

Music

She released her debut EP, ''The Arrival'' in 2002 and toured New Zealand in R&B /

Funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band Pure Funk during 1995 and 1996. In June 2005 she received a grant of up to $15,000 to record a new CD from Te Waka Toi, the Màori arts board of Creative New Zealand. Her second album, ''Movement is Essential'', came out in 2008. In 2008 Ramon started a DJ residency at Kiss bar called "Delicious Thursdays." She is also a well known model and "the first transgender girl to appear in music video clips and a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

commercial." In 2005 Te Wake joined King Kapisi in presenting '' Pasifika 2005'' festival, the biggest

Polynesian culture Polynesian culture is the culture of the indigenous peoples of Polynesia who share common traits in language, customs and society. The development of Polynesian culture is typically divided into four different historical eras: * Exploration and ...

festival in the world held in

every year since 1992, it was televised on TV2.

TV

Her first presenting job was for

, where she was one of three people fronting Takatāpui, which is Maori Television's first ever

show. The show began in 2004 and still continues today. Ramon's storytelling was noted by ''Scoop Independent News'' as "strong, creative and visual." Ramon's most celebrated work from the programme was the coverage of the 2011 death of activist Carmen Rupe. She had made a documentary of Rupe's life in 2006. In 2008 she was one of several actors selected to portray Georgina Beyer, a

who became the world's first openly

transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...

mayor, as well as the world's first openly transsexual Member of Parliament, in a feature-length film. In 2009 ''The Making of Ramon'' was a Takatāpui-produced documentary about Ramon which was aired as part of Triangle TV's ''Sunday Nights Out''. In 2011 Te Wake directed a 25-minute video "Pacific Voices" for the NZ AIDS Foundation addressing issues and lives of Pacific LGBT people "such as identity, sexual health,

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

and

family estrangement Family estrangement is the cessation or reduction of a previously existing relationship between family members, often to the extent that there is little to no communication for a prolonged period. Often, at least one of the parties wants estrange ...

" the project "offers hope through mutual support and self-determination." She has co-directed two series with Damon Fepulia'i, ''Inky Pinky Ponky'' (2023) and most recently ''The Boy, The Queen, and Everything in Between (2024),'' credited also as the Writer.

Discography

Albums

*The Arrival (2002) *Movement is Essential (2008)

Music videos

*To The Core (2007) *Still Remains (2010)

Filmography

Feature films

* '' Rūrangi''

Short films

*The Preacher Man (2004) *The Johnny Doo Good Show (2005) *AROHA – K' Road Stories (2015) * GURL (2020) *Wait, Wait, Now! (2024)

TV

*Takataapui (2005) *Neighbourhood (2016) * Queens of Panguru (2017) *Inky Pinky Ponky (2023) written by Amanaki Prescott-Faletau, co-directed by Damon Fepulea’i *The Boy, The Queen, and Everything in Between (2024) Written by Ramon Te Wake, co-directed by Damon Fepulia'i

Theatre

*People Like Us (2016)

References

External links

November round up – part 2

Reinventing Ramon , Express Online

A capital, a fair , Express Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Wake, Ramon 1976 births Living people New Zealand LGBTQ singer-songwriters New Zealand LGBTQ broadcasters New Zealand LGBTQ models New Zealand Māori broadcasters People from Dargaville LGBTQ DJs Transgender female models Transgender songwriters Transgender women singers New Zealand transgender women New Zealand women television presenters New Zealand women singer-songwriters Takatāpui 21st-century New Zealand women singers 21st-century New Zealand singer-songwriters 20th-century New Zealand LGBTQ people 21st-century New Zealand LGBTQ people