10:00AM: Labour's transgender MP Georgina Beyer will resign in February, reports the New Zealand Herald. Ms Beyer said today she would step down shortly after the House sits again in the second week of February. After leaving office she will take part in a play -- Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks -- at Dunedin's Fortune Theatre, and is seriously considering a tilt at the Wellington mayoralty later in the year. Ms Beyer, the world's first transsexual MP, had previously said she planned to step down ahead of the 2008 election as part of Labour's "rejuvenation" process. Prime Minister Helen Clark has publicly stated she wants some old hands to "exit with dignity" so Labour's caucus can be freshened up ahead of the next election. Ms Beyer, elected as MP for Wairarapa in 1999, said during her first term she would not stand again, and then changed her mind. During her second term she again announced her retirement, and then decided she did not want to stand for the Wairarapa seat but would go on Labour's list. Ms Beyer said it was always in her plan to be out of central government politics by the time she was 50. She turns 50 next November. Ms Beyer said she had told Miss Clark of her intentions about a month ago. She had notified Labour's caucus this week and expected to give her valedictory speech at the end of the first sitting week in February. She will be replaced by the next candidate on Labour's list, Southland union organiser Lesley Soper, who was an MP for a brief time ahead of the last election. Ms Beyer said she would spend the summer tying up loose ends from work. ”I was intending to leave in February anyhow. The play came along. It was perfect timing.'' Ms Beyer said the play, written by United States author Richard Alfieri, would run until the end of March. It would then be taken on a short tour around Otago and Southland. People had also been approaching her to stand for Wellington's mayoralty, which had also factored into her decision. She would make a firm decision in the middle of the year on whether to stand. This year Ms Beyer said she would stay in Parliament until she had clarified the legal status of transsexuals. Her Human Rights (Gender Identity) Amendment Bill, which sought to explicitly ban discrimination against transsexuals, was withdrawn from Parliament's order paper this year. But in return the Government sought an opinion from Crown Law that current human rights legislation covered discrimination against transsexuals. Ref: New Zealand Herald (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 14th December 2006 - 12:00pm