Tue 6 Oct 2015 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Change.org petition seeks to amend the current New Zealand Human Rights Act to include a protection on the basis of gender identity. The current Human Rights Act 1993 does not explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and the creators of the petition say a change would protect those who have not had, or will not have, gender reassignment surgery.They say the only protection that transgender New Zealander's currently have is a Crown Law opinion which states the following: "The Human Rights Commission Report of the Inquiry into Discrimination Experienced by Transgender People, To be Who I Am: Kia noho au ki toku ano ao, expresses concern about the particular difficulties transgender individuals face in obtaining official documents that provide consistent and accurate information about their gender identity, and the possibility of discrimination when such documents are not congruent with physical appearances. Section 19(1) of the Bill of Rights Act affirms that everyone has the right to freedom from discrimination on the grounds of discrimination in the Human Rights Act 1993. The grounds of discrimination under the Human Rights Act include discrimination based on sex." You can sign the petition here.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 6th October 2015 - 4:38pm