Louisa Wall’s current bid to get gender identity protection specifically covered in the Human Rights Act is a no-go. The Labour MP put forward a gender identity amendment as part of the Statutes Amendment Bill (no 4). The Supplementary Order Paper calls for a change to section 21(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act, so it would read: "sex, which includes gender identity, pregnancy, and childbirth." Wall wrote to the Government Administration Select Committee and asked for it the proposed amendment to be included in the submission process. The Government Administration Select Committee has now decided the Bill is not “the right vehicle for this amendment” and therefore will not hear submissions on it. It’s understood it was considered too substantive in a Bill that was for technical changes. It’s the latest blow for transgender rights campaigners, who have been fighting for specific protection from discrimination on the grounds of gender identity for years. A barrier went up due to a Crown Law Opinion in 2006 that gender identity is already covered. However that opinion has never been tested in court and advocates say there is no guarantee that the Human Rights Act in its current form will be interpreted as including gender identity.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 6th July 2014 - 3:18pm