It’s not all rainbows for the local pride community after a “very disappointing” government proposal to define “woman” and “man” as “adult human biological” female and male recently passed its first reading in parliament.
The Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill has been proposed by NZ First to establish these definitions in the Legislation Act 2019, with the purpose to uphold legal certainty, protect sex-based rights integrity, and ensure language in law reflects “biological reality”.
Q-Youth is Nelson’s for-youth, by-youth charitable organisation providing support, advocacy and education for queer and transgender youth, their friends, whānau and the wider community.
Coordinator Enby Harvey says rangatahi and local LGBTQIA+ community leaders feel “targeted” and “attacked”, describing supporters of the bill as “ignorant”.
They say one young person told them the bill “solidified my distrust in governments”, while another said it would “make it unsafe to even go outside or openly be [transgender]”.
“It is quite upsetting as a youth worker. You want young people to feel like their government has their back, and that’s just not the case,” they say.
“We have young people worried about their friends and family members who are going to be affected by this bill, and feeling like they don’t have the same protections, a lot of fear that the rising anti-trans rhetoric that is happening,
“It has seeped into New Zealand and is now becoming an everyday threat for them.”
Enby says the government is responding to “a non-issue”, labelling the legislation “a big waste of time and waste of resources”.
“It doesn’t really achieve what the government is claiming to be trying to do, which is to protect women’s rights, which we love, and we would love to see more things happening here in New Zealand that protect women, cisgender and transgender women alike.
“We should be focusing on more important things that are happening in New Zealand to improve people’s lives rather than targeting a vulnerable minority.”
Enby goes on to say the bill breaches transgender and intersex rights.
“Transgender and intersex people are already disproportionately exposed to violence, discrimination and harassment,” they said.
“This bill contributes to this harm by increasing stigma and framing them as illegitimate or non-existent.
“Trying to be like [male and female], these are the two categories, and anybody else doesn't count, doesn't deserve the same protections as you, we can see that transgender and queer people rights are up for debate.”
Q-Youth and Whakatū Pride joined nationwide peaceful protests responding to the bill on Saturday.
Public submissions on the bill are open through to 2 July.
