Robin Duff (1947 – 16 February 2015) was a New Zealand teacher, education leader and gay rights activist. He was the first openly gay secondary school teacher and parliamentary candidate in New Zealand.

Biography

Born and raised in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, Duff was educated at

Hastings Boys' High School Hastings Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hastings, New Zealand. The school is part of the Super 8. The school was founded in 1904 as Hastings High School. In 1922, it became Hastings Technical School under the leadership of Wi ...

. He then studied at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, and became a secondary school teacher. He began teaching at

Burnside High School Burnside High School () is a state co-educational secondary school located in the suburb of Burnside in Christchurch, New Zealand. With a roll of students, it is the largest school in New Zealand outside Auckland, and is among the country's fou ...

in 1973 and was New Zealand's first openly gay secondary school teacher. His pupils included future prime minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016. Following his father's death when ...

and media commentator Russell Brown. While at university, Duff became involved in gay activism, forming the University of Canterbury Gay Activists Society with Lindsay Taylor, and helping to launch Gay Liberation Christchurch, both in 1972. He also joined the

Values Party The Values Party was a New Zealand political party. It is considered the world's first national-level environmentalist party, pre-dating the use of "Green" as a political label. It was established in May 1972 at Victoria University of Wellingto ...

and stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for

Christchurch Central Christchurch Central is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the South Island city of Christchurch. The electorate was established for the 1946 election and, until 2011 had always been won by the Labour Party. Since 2008, the incumbent ...

at the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and 1978 general elections, becoming the first openly gay parliamentary candidate in New Zealand. Duff was also active in the

Post Primary Teachers' Association The New Zealand Post-Primary Teachers' Association Incorporated (PPTA) is a trade union in New Zealand and professional association. It represents about 21,000 teachers employed in state and integrated secondary schools, area schools, technolo ...

, serving as its junior vice-president between 2005 and 2007, president from 2007 to 2009 and 2011 to 2013, and senior vice-president between 2009 and 2011 and from 2013 until his death in Christchurch in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Robin 1947 births 2015 deaths People from Hastings, New Zealand University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand schoolteachers New Zealand trade unionists New Zealand gay politicians New Zealand LGBTQ rights activists Values Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1978 New Zealand general election Post Primary Teachers' Association people People educated at Hastings Boys' High School