Everyone in Aotearoa should be entitled to protection from discrimination. Right now we have a beautiful opportunity to tautoko our trans, intersex and non-binary whānau by making a submission to increase their rights under the Human Rights Act 1993.

The Law Commission is currently undertaking a review of the protections against discrimination for trans, non-binary and intersex people. 

Currently the Human Rights Act 1993 does not list gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics among the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination. Legal advice to the government has taken the view that discrimination against trans people would be discrimination on the ground of “sex”, which is prohibited. However, there have not been any cases of this issue, so the legal position remains uncertain. 

Submissions close at 5 pm on Thursday 5 September 2024 and can be made here. 

You can respond to as many questions as you want. You could respond to a few of the broader questions if you don’t feel that you have enough time or knowledge to get into all the technical details.

Your connection to the issue is valid and sharing why you care makes a powerful statement to the people reviewing the submissions.

Here are some points that you might like to make in your submission: 

  • Transgender, non-binary and intersex people currently face discrimination and are facing a distressing rise in abuse and hatred. This is often spread on social media and through misinformation. 
  • Transgender, non-binary and intersex people should be protected from discrimination, just like members of other marginalised groups are. 
  • Gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics should be added to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Human Rights Act to protect transgender, non-binary and intersex people from discrimination.
  • Single-sex exemptions in the Human Rights Act should not be able to be used to exclude trans women from women’s spaces or services. These exemptions exist to enable men to be excluded from women’s spaces and services. Trans women are women and the law should protect them from being treated as second-class women. Trans women face particularly high rates of violence, abuse and discrimination, so it is particularly important that they can access women-only spaces and services.
  • The Human Rights Act should state that deliberately misgendering or deadnaming a transgender or non-binary person is a form of discrimination. Misgendering and deadnaming cause significant harm and distress to transgender and non-binary people, and they should be protected from this harm at work, school and other areas regulated by our anti-discrimination laws. 

 

 

The Law Commission has released an Issues Paper setting out its thinking and seeking responses to questions. It is a long and detailed document - 211 pages with 80 questions. The Issues Paper can be found here. 

Prepared by Rainbow Greens of Aotearoa New Zealand.