Pixiedust2017 I agree with you that transgender care in NZ is poor, which is why I applaud the government's moves to allocate more money for surgery, and I think that every person struggling with gender identity issues should be able to see a counsellor if at all possible.
However, my concern about Self ID has nothing to do with the transgender community per se, but with the fact that it was introduced without due diligence as to its possible effects on women's rights to sex-segregated spaces such as toilets, changing rooms, hostels, refuges etc.
As I said on this thread Professor Rosa Freeedman & Barrister Julian Norman to speak in Auckland on Self ID 26 February all we have wanted from the Government is a straight answer to these questions: Will this self-identification provision for gender identity override sex-based protections for women and girls? Will the seeming conflation of biological sex and gender identity render meaningless the current protections in the Human Rights Act 1993 against sex-based discrimination and provisions for sex-segregated facilities and services?
And if the answer to those questions is yes and yes, then it is up to to
the government, not us, to give good reasons as to why why sexual predators will not be able to take advantage of Self ID to say that they have a legal right to enter, and remain, in formerly sex-segregated spaces.
Why these perfectly reasonable questions have been met with vitriol I don't know, since it would be in everyone's interests for our lawmakers to enact legislation that would help transgender people to live the life they want, and ensure at the same time that women don't lose hard won rights to safe spaces.