Rainbow Wellington Campaigns, update December 2010 We have again written again to Ms Anne Tolley at Parliament, underlining our concern at the apparent lack of awareness of or action over homophobic bullying. The background to this was explained in our October newsletter. Her reply is quite lengthy and detailed. The initial reaction was that it talks a lot about bullying in general, but little about the specific problems of homophobic bullying. As it is known that this is a topic which many schools remain nervous about, it is interesting that there appears to be little targeting of the issue as such. ----- As a rather frustrating year for our campaigns came to an end, we felt it worthwhile summing up our concerns in a press release in the form of an open letter to the Prime Minster, which was sent to his office about a week ago. We quote this in full without further comment: CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN NEW ZEALAND I have been asked by our Board to write to you and express our disappointment at the record of your government regarding civil and human rights in this country. As you will be aware from previous correspondence Rainbow Wellington is a Wellington based group comprising some one hundred and fifty gay and lesbian citizens and those of related orientations. We have in addition a mailing list of about seven hundred and speak on national issues concerning the civil and human rights for many other citizens of our persuasion throughout the country about our laws and the ways in which these affect them. It is a measure of our concern and disappointment that we draw your attention to the following issues: The lack of any progress on the issue of the extension of rights of adoption by same sex couples, or any indication that the current government has an interest in pursuing this issue at all, let alone giving it any priority. This is a glaring instance of remaining discrimination against gay and lesbian couples in which we are within a dwindling minority within developed countries. The same applies to same sex marriage. Whereas only a few scant years ago we could be said to be leading the world in the introduction of civil unions, we are now being surpassed in this regard by many other developed countries who have taken the further step in the direction of same sex marriage. International movements of people will force the hand of any New Zealand government regarding this before too long and it is appropriate to take steps now to avoid this later. In January 2008 the Human Rights Commission released the report To Be Who I Am which was the outcome of a wide ranging enquiry into discrimination experienced by transgender and unisex citizens. The previous government pledged itself to the implementation of the report’s recommendations, and with the change of government we sought similar commitments. To date the implementation of these recommendations has been slow and patchy, to say the least. There has been widespread and growing awareness in recent years of the problem of bullying and harassment in schools of those young people trying to establish their identities by ‘coming out’. A 2007 survey in our schools drew attention to this and the associated problems of suicide and self harm. We were recently alarmed by reports that the present Minister of Education seems to be unaware of this and more recent research to the same effect. We have written to her accordingly and we are not re-assured by her reply. During work done earlier in the term of your government under the auspices of the Minister of Social Development into violence in schools this dimension seems to have been conspicuously lacking in terms both of awareness and effective practical action despite assurances to the contrary when we took the matter up. The recent law change to prohibit compulsory membership of student associations will have a very negative effect on the social services these associations have historically provided. In particular, from our perspective, they will almost certainly be forced to curtail the support and advisory services available to young people ‘coming out’ at a particularly vulnerable time when they may be living away from home for the first time and in a strange city where they need all the help and support they can get. The recent change to industrial legislation allowing for dismissal without reason in the first ninety days of employment renders our members particularly vulnerable to sacking for reasons of homophobia. Bullying and harassment in the workplace because of this is a very real problem regularly brought to our attention. Two recent cases before the Employment Relations Tribunal prior to the law change which led to significant compensation to those discriminated against would have been easily avoided by the employers under the new dispensation. We also have wider concerns which we are addressing to you because as a group which has only very recently and still only partially achieved our legal human rights as full citizens, we are very conscious of the fact that human rights are indivisible and may be withdrawn. It concerns us gravely to note that some existing human rights in our society have recently moved negatively. We instance: The Electoral (Disqualification of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill (now passed by parliament) which effectively removes the right of some prison inmates to exercise their vote. We note that the Attorney General has, consistent with his duty, pointed out that a number of the provisions of this Bill are inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act of 1990. The legislation is, of course, inconsistent with at least one United Nations resolution on the same subject which New Zealand has ratified (the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). We also note the irony associated with this step backwards at the precise moment that the European Court of Human Rights has instructed the British government to amend its own laws in that regard to allow prisoners the right to vote within six months or face at least two and a half thousand legal claims for damages by inmates. New legislation proposes to introduce changes to our traditional common law approach to assumptions of guiltlessness by greatly extending the scope of demands which can be made for the production of material or answering questions to a range of enforcement agencies and officers. Effectively what is being introduced here is a new crime – the crime of silence. As members of a group which has been notoriously harassed by the Police in the past, and whose main defence was silence, we treat any such extensions with suspicion, and note that a number of other bodies share our concerns including the Public Issues Committee of the Auckland District Law Society. We feel it necessary to draw these several concerns to your attention. The National Party which you lead has, since its inception, presented as a party which has taken freedom as one of its central watchwords, but the actions of the government it leads have over the past two years apparently belied this commitment. We would be glad to have your comments so we can circulate them to our members and supporters as a response to this letter, which we will also be circulating. Yours sincerely Tony Simpson Chair of Rainbow Wellington 17th December 2010. Rainbow Wellington - 31st December 2010