Matheson has been nominated for Senior New Zealander of the year in 2019, 20. In the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours, Matheson was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to performing arts, education and LGBTIQ rights. She has been married twice, with her first marriage ending because of her transition. Matheson was assigned male at birth and realised she was transgender when she was eight years old.
She is also the chair of Archery New Zealand. She has a second dan black belt in Goju Ryu Karate. Within sport, Matheson has campaigned for transgender athletes to be able to compete in all levels of sporting, and was the first transgender woman to compete in the World Goju Ryu Karate Federation Championships in 2017, where she placed bronze. In response to a government policy of mental health needs for younger LGBT people, she said: “We LGBTQI oldies experience all the challenges that other older people face in any ageing community, but we have our own unique challenges as well.” Matheson has advocated for the mental health needs of older LGBT people in New Zealand. Other areas of activism that Matheson has been involved in include campaigning to add gender identity as a protected identity under the Human Rights Act 1993, and the treatment of transgender people who are incarcerated. She has also been involved with Agender New Zealand Auckland and was a trustee for Transadvocates. Matheson has had a number of governance roles within the New Zealand LGBT community, including chairing the Hero Board that organised the 2002 Hero Festival, and a founding member of its successor, the Auckland Pride Festival. Between 19 Matheson wrote over 200 theatre reviews. Following these, she founded two theatre companies, one based at the Four Seasons Theatre in Whanganui, and then the Troupers Live Theatrix in Christchurch, with the latter running until 1998. Matheson was part of the Theatre Corporate, directed by Raymond Hawthorne, from 1976 to 1979. Īs an entertainer, she has been involved in over 400 theatrical productions. Īs of 2018 Matheson was working on her doctoral thesis, examining the history of karate in New Zealand. In 2006, she started as lecturer of event management at Auckland University of Technology. Whilst at Maidment Theatre, she completed a Master of Creative and Performing Arts in arts management. She was the director of the Maidment Theatre at the University of Auckland from 1998 to 2006. Matheson started her career in the 1960s as a teacher, and then became a principal.