By Renee Wells

LGBTQIA+ policies are an important part of addressing discrimination through law, in addition to allowing the diversity of Aotearoa to be celebrated. The 2020 election campaign has illustrated where LGBTQIA+ rights and freedoms stand in the policies of each party. Some of the many important rainbow issues raised in the 2020 election period include transgender rights, mental health, conversion therapy, and LGBTQIA+ representation in Parliament. Through the launch of Rainbow Election 2020, voters can now gain an insight into which parties support which rainbow policies.[1]

What is Rainbow Election 2020?

Rainbow Election 2020 is a student-run campaign, introduced by Rainbow Law at the University of Auckland.[2] Rainbow Election 2020 launched a recent policy tool, which allows the public to gain insight into which parties support which proposed rainbow policies, and to what degree. Rainbow Election 2020 has proposed four different categories which these policies fall under. These include Health, Education, Community, and Legal.

The four most prominent parties in a current Newshub election poll include Labour, National, ACT, and the Green Party.[3] The Green Party and Labour predominately support the proposed rainbow policies, whilst National and ACT do not currently have any rainbow policies. Conversely, New Conservative opposes nine of the fifteen proposed policies.[4]

Rainbow Law held a policy tool launch event, where rainbow policies of some of the parties were discussed in a panel of four representatives from Labour, National, The Opportunities Party, and the Green Party.

TOP has shown significant support for many of the proposed policies, in addition to releasing a Rainbow Position Statement.[5] In this statement, an awareness of the disproportionate outcomes faced by the Rainbow Community is addressed in relation to “housing insecurity, poverty, and mental health issues”. Furthermore, the statement addresses specific policy issues such as inclusivity in education, the need for public bathrooms to be accommodating to all gender identities, an opposition to conversion therapy, and the issue of MSM (men who have sex with men) men being banned from donating blood.

Transgender Policies

Discrimination against transgender people is a pressing issue that must be addressed in policy. The discrimination transgender people face has led to higher rates of suicide in their communities and had a significant detrimental effect on mental health in general.[6] A 2019 survey[7] found that transgender and non-binary people are nine times more likely to suffer high psychological distress in comparison to the general population, whilst 79 percent have seriously considered suicide.[8]

One of the Green Party’s main priorities conveyed during their campaign is “addressing the healthcare needs of the transgender and non-binary community”.[9] Labour’s rainbow policy states that they will “work with schools to provide gender neutral bathrooms”, in addition to ensuring the “health system is responsive to the needs of trans, intersex and gender diverse people”.[10] Conversely, New Conservative has promoted the idea of transgender students using bathrooms based on their assigned sex at birth, rather than the gender that they identify with.[11]

As of 2019 only 19 genital surgeries for transgender people were publicly funded over 14 years.[12] However, in the 2019 Budget, the Government allocated $2.99 million to gender affirming surgeries,[13] in addition to eliminating the cap on the number of surgeries that could be performed every two years.[14] The establishment of the Gender Affirming (Genital) Surgery Service that came with this increased budget aimed to “help more transgender people access publicly-funded gender affirming surgery in New Zealand.”[15] The budget allocation came in response to the “50-year waiting list for surgery and growing demand” in Aotearoa.[16] Although this is a significant step in the right direction, there are still challenges that must be addressed in ensuring more equitable healthcare for the Rainbow Community.

In promoting wider accessibility to gender affirming surgery, the financial cost of the surgery itself may be a significant barrier to many. Top surgery alone can cost approximately $20,000.[17] This extremely high cost immediately emphasises insufficient accessibility to those who cannot afford it, particularly younger people with less financial savings.

Lack of accessibility to gender affirming surgery has had and will continue to have negative effects on the mental health of many transgender people.[18] Ahi Wi-Hongi, Gender Minorities Aotearoa (GMA) national coordinator, emphasised that “at this point it's down to the budget and the Government making sure trans healthcare is a priority."[19]

Mental Health and Conversion Therapy

Jacinda Ardern has stated that the goal for Aotearoa is to lose no one to suicide.[20] National endeavours to establish a Minister for Mental Health.[21] New Conservative signs across the country read “No More Suicide”. The Green Party wants to provide free counselling to everyone under 25.[22] Mental health is evidently an important policy issue across all parties, with Aotearoa having the highest rate of youth suicide in the OECD.[23] In order to adequately address this issue, there must be a particular focus on minority groups including the Rainbow Community, who suffer disproportionately from poor mental health.[24] A Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill was established by the current coalition Government, which illustrates the disproportionality in mental health outcomes faced by minority groups.[25] 

An important issue that has been raised this year in relation to mental health is that reform should occur around the legality of conversion therapy in New Zealand. This outdated treatment involves the use of traumatic emotional and/or physical stimuli in an attempt to change one’s sexual orientation or gender identity.[26] The Green Party and Labour have both campaigned to ban conversion therapy,[27] whilst many other parties remain silent on the issue.

Conversion therapy has been proven to be ineffective and often results in significant mental trauma, as well as promoting heteronormativity.[28] The reality is that no person can be ‘cured’ from identifying as LGBTQIA+, and the legality of conversion therapy falsely insinuates that gender identity and sexual orientation is a choice.

A Member’s Bill on the Prohibition of Conversion Therapy remains untouched in the Member’s Bill ballot.[29] This means that the Member’s Bill is awaiting introduction and thus that a ban on conversion therapy is not currently being prioritised.

Conversion therapy has been banned in several countries and states around the world and the practice itself is arguably inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Sections 9 and 19 of the act establish the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel treatment and the right to freedom from discrimination respectively. Conversion therapy is a discriminatory practice which favours heteronormativity and results in feelings of insecurity and isolation if an individual departs from this ‘norm’.

The co-founder of the Conversion Therapy Action Group, Shaneel Shavneel Lal, has emphasised that “the current Government’s aim to reduce youth suicide fails to protect LGBTQIA+ youth”.[30] Considering the detrimental impact that conversion therapy has on the mental health of LGBTQIA+ people, it is concerning to see little acknowledgment of this issue by many of the parties. [31] The Green Party, TOP, and Labour are the only parties to officially support the ban of conversion therapy in Aotearoa.[32]

Representation in Parliament

LGBTQIA+ representation in Parliament is important in the legislative process, as informed policy is a matter of “knowing (an issue) personally.”[33] Parliament has a Rainbow Room, which is one of the select committee meeting rooms, celebrating diversity and representation in Parliament.[34] The issue of representation has been contested, with MPs arguing whether allyship alone is adequate, or if representation and personalisation is necessary in a party.[35]

New Zealand is set to elect the “gayest parliament in the world”,[36] with an estimate of between nine and eleven LGBTQIA+ identifying members, after the 2020 election. The Labour and Green parties both have members who openly identify as LGBTQIA+, whilst National has none. Todd Muller, former leader of the National Party, expressed that a “track record of being open to the diversity of this country” is a priority, adding that he would hope for a “more diverse range of candidates putting their hands up for National” to develop from this. [37]

Labour Party MP Tāmati Coffey, and his husband Tim Smith, were required to engage in an extensive adoption process to gain legal title as parents of their daughter, despite the fact that Smith is the biological father. Coffey lodged the Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Member’s Bill in 2019,[38] which involves reforming the outdated Adoption Act 1995. The Member’s Bill is currently in the ballot awaiting introduction, and its submission would likely not have occurred but for Coffey’s “personal experience”.[39] Through this “personal experience”, Coffey has positively influenced reform. Labour’s rainbow policy now includes the need to “review adoption and surrogacy legislation”.[40] Coffey’s experience having this effect on the outcomes of policy  emphasises the need for LGBTQIA+ representation in Parliament, and that “knowing an issue, knowing it personally, living it, makes a difference”.[41]

Conclusion

Progress has evidently been made in LGBTQIA+ policy and representation in Aotearoa. However, there are still important issues that must be addressed by the 2020 Government which would significantly impact the lives of many in the Rainbow Community. In the past it has been said that “every year around Pride, politicians show unconditional love to the LGBTQIA+ community, however, fail to act on their promises.”[42] Perhaps the 2020 Government will change the minds and lives of the people of Aotearoa.

The views expressed in the posts and comments of this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the Equal Justice Project. They should be understood as the personal opinions of the author. No information on this blog will be understood as official. The Equal Justice Project makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The Equal Justice Project will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information.

Featured image source: Kristel Hayes on Unsplash

[1] Rainbow Election (2020) <www.rainbowelection2020.org.nz>.

[2] Rainbow Law University of Auckland (2020) <www.rainbowlaw.co.nz>.

[3] Tova O’Brien “NZ Election 2020: Newshub-Reid Research poll shows Labour governing alone as National languishes in the 20s” (27 September 2020) Newshub <www.newshub.co.nz>.

[4] “Policies” (2020) Rainbow Election <www.rainbowelection2020.org.nz>.

[5] “Rainbow Position Statement” (17 September 2020) TOP. <www.top.org.nz>.

[6] “Suicide prevention and the rainbow population” (2017) Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand <www.mentalhealth.org.nz>.

[7] “Community Report” (2018) Counting Ourselves <countingourselves.nz>.

[8] Murphy “Trans and non-binary health and wellbeing report reveals severe inequities” (23 September 2019) RNZ <www.rnz.co.nz>.

[9] Felix Desmarais “Election 2020: Lack of access to transgender healthcare can be lethal” (11 September 2020) NZ Herald <www.nzherald.co.nz>.

[10] “Rainbow” (2020) Labour <www.labour.org.nz/rainbow>.

[11] Sherry Zhang “Rainbow Election 2020 highlights LGBTQI+ issues – and a lack of policy” (3 September 2020) The Spinoff <www.thespinoff.co.nz>.

[12] Felix Desmarais “Five times more transgender Kiwis lining up for surgery” (3 February 2019) Stuff <www.stuff.co.nz>.

[13] “Updates from the Gender affirming (genital) surgery service” (August 2020) Ministry of Health <www.health.govt.nz>.

[14] Derek Cheng “$3 million for gender affirming surgeries in Budget 2019” (31 May 2019) NZ Herald <www.nzherald.co.nz>.

[15] Ministry of Health, above n 13.

[16] Zane Small “Transgender funding, cannabis vote, refugee quota: What else did Budget 2019 cover?” (31 May 2019) Newshub <www.newshub.co.nz>.

[17] Felix Desmarais “Election 2020: Stakes are high in rainbow policy debate” (11 September 2020) RNZ <www.rnz.co.nz>.

[18] Cheng, above n 14.

[19] Desmarais, above n 12.

[20] “Increase in suicides for Māori and teens, latest stats show” (26 August 2019) RNZ <www.rnz.co.nz>

[21] “Policy: NZ Election 2020” (2020) The Spinoff <www.policy.nz>.

[22] “More Free Mental Health Support for Young People” (6 May 2019) Green Party <www.greens.org.nz>.

[23] Nine to Noon “What's driving the deterioration in youth mental health?” (11 February 2020) RNZ <www.rnz.co.nz>.

[24] Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill 2019 (188-2), sch 1A.

[25] Above n 24.

[26] “About Conversion Therapy” (2020) The Trevor Project <www.thetrevorproject.org>.

[27] “Rainbow Communities” (2020) Green <www.greens.org.nz>; Labour, above n 10.

[28] “Conversion Therapy” (March 2020) New Zealand Association of Counsellors <www.nzac.org.nz>.

[29] “Prohibition of Conversion Therapy Member’s Bill” (2 July 2020) New Zealand Parliament <www.parliament.nz>.

[30] Shaneel Shavneel Lal “Conversion Therapy: Our Human Rights Are Still Not a Human Reality” (30 January 2020) Express <www.gayexpress.co.nz>.

[31] Harriet Sherwood “Conversion therapy can result in mental illness, poll finds” (2020) The Guardian <www.theguardian.com>.

[32] Green Party, above n 27.

[33] “New Zealand is on track to elect the ‘gayest parliament in the world’” (6 June 2020) SBS News <www.sbs.com.au>.

[34] “Rainbow Room” (2020) New Zealand Parliament <www.parliament.nz>.

[35] Sam Brooks “The National Party is failing the queer community, again” (1 July 2020) The Spinoff <www.thespinoff.co.nz>.

[36] SBS News, above n 33.

[37] SBS News, above n 33.

[38] “Improving Arrangements for Surrogacy Member’s Bill” (2 July 2020) New Zealand Parliament <www.parliament.nz>.

[39] Breanna Barraclough “Labour MP Tāmati Coffey using his personal experience to fight for change in surrogacy laws” (3 December 2020) One News <www.tvnz.co.nz>.

[40] Labour, above n 10.

[41] SBS News, above n 33.

[42] Lal, above n 30.