If you want to talk about the transgender issue and women safety in bathrooms, changing rooms, sports, prisons, domestic violence refuges, and in public policy in general, you’ll get shouted down and shouted out of the public domain. Think Posie Parker at Albert Park and the storm that was shamefully whipped up by the media on that. But suddenly, the political leaders are suddenly talking about it on the campaign trail. In fact, some political leaders who support gender ideology are suddenly questioning gender ideology. How can that be?
TRANSCRIPT:
If you want to talk about the transgender issue and women safety in bathrooms, changing rooms, sports, prisons, domestic violence refuges, and in public policy in general, you’ll get shouted down and shouted out of the public domain. Think Posie Parker at Albert Park and the storm that was shamefully whipped up by the media on that.
But suddenly, the political leaders are suddenly talking about it. In fact, some political leaders who support gender ideology are suddenly questioning gender ideology. How can that be?
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters announced a number of policies around transgender issues – including laws requiring NEW public organisations (and this would include schools) to provide “clearly demarcated” unisex and single-sex bathrooms. The party also wants a law change to require current public toilets to not allow anyone access “which are designed for the opposite sex use”.
He also says “We will pass legislation to ensure any publicly funded sporting body that does not have an exclusive biological female category, where ordinarily appropriate, shall be immediately ineligible for any public funding.”
And he opens the announcement saying “This entire debate is about finding the balance between fair inclusion and fairness for all. The minority liberal elite are trying to decide for all New Zealanders that the removal of women’s safety, privacy, and freedoms is an expected sacrifice for the elite’s woke ideological and social crusade.”
He concludes by saying “This is not about being ‘anti anyone’ or ‘anti anything’. This is about standing up for commonsense, safety, and fairness for everyone.”
Hard to argue.
Now interestingly ACT’s David Seymour also spoke recently on this issue – agreeing with the same policies that Winston Peters has raised.
Here’s the problem with what David Seymour is saying. He is raising the issue about gender ideology and its effect on public spaces, BUT this is the same David Seymour and the whole ACT party that voted for gender ideology to override birth certificates and for birth certificates to be based on your gender identity rather than your biological sex at birth. Yep – unanimous support. In fact, you can change your sex on your certificate as often as you like, and a 16/17 year old doesn’t even need to necessarily have parental permission.
The ACT party also supported the conversion therapy law which criminalises – yes criminalises parents, pastors & counsellors who may oppose the gender affirmation model when dealing with a child who may have gender dysphoria. That criminalises a parent who affirms their daughter as a girl and their son as a boy and tells their child that no, darling, you cannot just choose to change your gender. No you cannot go on puberty blockers or cross sex hormones. No I am not buying you a chest binder or those tuck friendly togs. ACT also voted to criminalise the act of someone who wants to seek counselling to deal with unwanted – unwanted sexuality and gender identity issues.
So please excuse me if I find it a little hard to take Seymour at his word on this issue. either you accept the ideology and pass all those laws, or you call our culture back to biology and truth. You can’t have it both ways.
So what does National leader Christopher Luxon and Labour leader Chris Hipkins – and the other parties for that matter – think? National leader Christopher Luxon said it’s a non issue and you must be on another planet if you’re concerned about this issue. Greens co-leader said it was worse than nasty. It was nasty! Here’s the 1News coverage.
Hipkins says that nobody has raised the issue with him.
In fact, we know that to be false because Speak up for Women tweeted
Chris Hipkins says that women’s single-sex spaces are not being raised with him, this is an absolute lie. SUFW have communicated with him several times in the last few months, including sending him a heads up on these poll results on sex self-ID and a personalized copy of our press release regarding an event we held at Parliament on May 3rd. He’s forgotten about his inability to articulate an answer to the “what is a woman” question that @SeanPlunket asked. He’s forgotten about the Sex and Gender questions in the census and the emails he received as a result.
Now to be fair to Christopher Luxon, lets play the full press conference. It’s hard to hear the interviewer but you’ll see the question in text down the bottom.
“Bathrooms are not a big issue”? You know he’s half right and half wrong in what he said in that stand-up interview. He’s right that people are talking about crime, about health, about the cost of living – but he’s wrong that people aren’t talking about bathrooms. Of course, bathrooms is a silly way of expressing it – but the media are deliberately trying to cheapen the whole debate with silly opening questions like “Do we need laws specifying which public bathroom people are able to use?” It’s not about a law.
It’s about this – which everyone understands. Male and female toilets. Everyone understood it. Everyone followed it. There were no issues – but then it became this. (toilet) And this (weightlifter) And this (Posie Parker) when suddenly gender ideology confused everybody and made toilets, bathrooms, camp bunkrooms, womens sports, womens refuges unsafe spaces for women. And anyone who raised concerns were cancelled.
But we also know that Luxon IS being asked about this issue on the campaign trail. In fact we recently highlighted his comments regarding the whole sexuality and gender ideology being rammed down in primary schools to children as young as 6 and 7, and Luxon’s response that it’s the parent’s domain.
So thumbs up to Winston Peters for starting this debate on the campaign trail – although in fairness there have been lots of others of us raising this issue for a number of years.
In fact, our first report on this issue actually came out in 2015 – 8 years ago!!
But here’s what you need to do. Go to ValueYourVote.nz and check out this issue with our political leaders and where they stand. We’ve asked all the party leaders (including the parties not currently in parliament) where they stand on these issues. Where they’ve refused to answer, we’ve gone on their voting record and their public statements.
Do they support or oppose these things
Gender ideology i.e. gender identity is separate from biological sex
Birth certificates can be based on gender identity, not biological sex
Do they Support or oppose the current ‘conversion therapy ban’ law
Do they Support or oppose Counselling Ban for youth with gender confusion unless affirming gender identity
Do they Support or oppose Counselling ban on gender / sexuality for adults – even if consent is given
Do they Support or oppose Ban on chemicalisation/surgery for minors (under 18) for ‘gender transitioning’
Do they Support or oppose Legal protection for parents to discuss gender/sexuality issues with their children
Do they Support or oppose Ban on prayer for issues related to sexuality / gender
Most of those things were criminalised in the conversion therapy law
Gender ideology is definitely an election issue. One of a number – but definitely a key one.
Don’t let the media or the politicians tell you otherwise.
