A bill that would have added 'gender identity' to the Human Rights Act has been put on the backburner. Labour MP Georgina Beyer was reportedly told by the Labour Party caucus at its Premier House meeting in Wellington last week she could not expect support from caucus colleagues for the bill, which she was sponsoring as a private member's bill. Transgendered people can currently be discriminated against legally in areas of housing, employment and accomodation as they are not covered by the Act. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who is likely to offer to confidence and supply votes to a Labour-led government, said last October that the bill would lead to "Priscilla Queen of the Desert [teaching] in the classroom."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 29th September 2005 - 12:00pm