Gender law delay sign of nerves, says Opposition

 

18.03.05

 

The postponement of legislation aimed at preventing discrimination against transgendered people shows the Government has the pre-election jitters, say Opposition MPs.

The member's bill of Transsexual Labour MP Georgina Beyer - the Human Rights (Gender Identity) Amendment Bill - would prohibit discrimination on the grounds of gender identity.

But it has been postponed while Ms Beyer gathers more information and will not be considered until after the election.

National MP Richard Worth said that was proof the Government had pre-election jitters. "The Government has probably been spooked by what I judge to be a mounting outcry about its family-unfriendly policies," he told National Radio.

New Zealand First MP Dail Jones said Ms Beyer had obviously done the numbers and knew the bill would not pass before the election.

"I think that either before an election or after an election, members of Parliament would like to see Girl Guides wearing Girl Guides uniforms, not Boy Scouts uniforms, or vice versa," he said.

Murray Smith, of Government support partner United Future, said it was clear Ms Beyer had been given the message Labour did not want the bill coming up before the election.

"I think the Government is well aware that the measures it has taken, like the Prostitution Reform Bill and the Civil Union Bill, have created a huge amount of disquiet around the country and they don't want to feel that any further."

 

But Ms Beyer said she simply wanted time to gather more information. "Many MPs have expressed support in principle for the bill but it is clear they also have a lot of questions," she said.

She would consult colleagues, the transgender and inter-sex community and Human Rights Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan.

When she introduced the bill last month, Ms Beyer said the legislation was about protection.

The draft bill says that although most people identified with the gender with which they were born, some did not.

"People whose identification is with a gender different from that with which they are born, often known as transgendered people, are subjected to discrimination in employment, housing and in some matters covered by the law," she said at the time.

The law would apply to the transgender community and the inter-sex community (people of indeterminate gender at birth and assigned the "wrong" gender). She said both communities had found it difficult to say "look, I have rights here, and here they are in the law."

- NZPA