Lady Aya

Lady_Aya PCNZM QSO BStJ is a New Zealand politician currently serving as the leader of Heartland New Zealand. They also served as the 22nd Governor-General of New Zealand.

Early Life
Lady_Aya was born in on May 22nd, 1979 in Whitianga, the third of four kids. Their parents immigrated from the United States shortly before they were born. While early on, they struggled with academics they later found their passion in history. They graduated from University of Auckland in 2002, majoring in history and education. Shortly after graduating, Lady_Aya moved back to their native Wellington and found a job as a secondary school teacher, which they did for 4 years. Growing concerned with the future of their students and seeing the state of politics, Lady_Aya decided to abandon to their job and enter into politics with the Labour Party.

Political Career
Lady_Aya climbed up the rank of the Labour Party before eventually becoming a staffer for Labour. In 2008 they entered Parliament as a List MP for the Labour Party. A backbencher in the Fifth and Sixth Labour Government and in opposition, Lady_Aya greatly rose to prominence in 2020, being nominated and appointed to be the 22nd Governor-General of New Zealand, becoming the first LGBTQ+ individual of the office.

Personal Details
Religious Views

Raised as a member in the Roman Catholic Church, Lady_Aya later left the church as a result of conflicting views. After undergoing several years of discernment and trying to find their faith, Lady_Aya eventually became a member of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. Lady_Aya also has an avid Religious Studies interest and tries to attend services of different faiths when they can.

LGBTQ+

Lady_Aya identifies as queer and non-binary, and uses singular they/them pronouns along with she/her pronouns. They are the first Governor-General of New Zealand to identify as non-binary.

Family

Lady_Aya has stated before that as a result of their family's religious beliefs, they had to cut their family out of their life. They have expressed they are willing to reconcile with their family but only if their parents would be willing to "accept them as they are, not as they wish them to be." Although they have dated in the past, Lady_Aya is single and only lives with their cat, Elwyn.