Latest news with #QueerEnduranceinDefiance
Scoop
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Wellington Queer Communities Protest Against NZ First's Anti-Trans Bill
Press Release – Queer Endurance in Defiance Now more than ever, trans communities need support. Join Queer Endurance in Defiance, or your local queer organisation, and help us demonstrate that we will not be defined out of existence. On Saturday 8 May, around 400 protesters rallied with Queer Endurance in Defiance (QED), protesting against a proposed member's bill by NZ First MP Jenny Marcroft, which aims to legally exclude trans people from definitions of 'man' and 'woman.' NZ First leader Winston Peters announced on 22 April that the bill will define a woman as an 'adult human biological female' and a man as an 'adult human biological male.' The wording of the bill reflects that of a recent ruling from Britain's Supreme Court, which similarly excluded trans women from the definition of women. QED activists say both moves seek to facilitate the exclusion of trans people from social services and public life. QED spokesperson Tristan-Cordelia Egarr noted that the government had already indicated moves to restrict access to puberty blockers for trans rangatahi, and erase queer and trans people from Relationships and Sexuality Education in schools. Egarr also noted that 'instead of focusing on the most pressing issues facing New Zealanders – the cost of living crisis, child poverty, the climate crisis, our overburdened healthcare system – Peters and the government are presenting these transparent attempts to distract and divide us by targeting an already marginalised and vulnerable community.' 'Now more than ever, trans communities need support. Join Queer Endurance in Defiance, or your local queer organisation, and help us demonstrate that we will not be defined out of existence. We trans people will continue to exist, and we will continue to resist.'
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Scoop
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Queer Endurance in Defiance - Latest News [Page 1]
Wellington Queer Communities Protest Against NZ First's Anti-Trans Bill Now more than ever, trans communities need support. Join Queer Endurance in Defiance, or your local queer organisation, and help us demonstrate that we will not be defined out of existence. More >> Proposed Changes To Relationships And Sexuality Education Will Put Children At Risk Tuesday, 6 May 2025, 10:11 am | Queer Endurance in Defiance By removing reference to our existence, the government is actively putting gender-diverse children at risk of abuse. This is a deliberate choice that has been made to put children in harm's way, and it has been done because the government does not care. More >> Wellington Queer Community To Hold Hīkoi To Defend Trans Teens' Access To Puberty Blockers Thursday, 20 March 2025, 2:14 pm | Queer Endurance in Defiance The Hīkoi is intended to pressure the Government and Ministry of Health to reverse moves towards restrictions, and guarantee access to puberty blockers and hormones. Protesters are set to assemble at 10am at Waitangi Park, before marching through ... More >>
Scoop
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Wellington Queer Communities Protest Against NZ First's Anti-Trans Bill
On Saturday 8 May, around 400 protesters rallied with Queer Endurance in Defiance (QED), protesting against a proposed member's bill by NZ First MP Jenny Marcroft, which aims to legally exclude trans people from definitions of 'man' and 'woman.' NZ First leader Winston Peters announced on 22 April that the bill will define a woman as an 'adult human biological female' and a man as an 'adult human biological male.' The wording of the bill reflects that of a recent ruling from Britain's Supreme Court, which similarly excluded trans women from the definition of women. QED activists say both moves seek to facilitate the exclusion of trans people from social services and public life. QED spokesperson Tristan-Cordelia Egarr noted that the government had already indicated moves to restrict access to puberty blockers for trans rangatahi, and erase queer and trans people from Relationships and Sexuality Education in schools. Egarr also noted that 'instead of focusing on the most pressing issues facing New Zealanders - the cost of living crisis, child poverty, the climate crisis, our overburdened healthcare system - Peters and the government are presenting these transparent attempts to distract and divide us by targeting an already marginalised and vulnerable community.' 'Now more than ever, trans communities need support. Join Queer Endurance in Defiance, or your local queer organisation, and help us demonstrate that we will not be defined out of existence. We trans people will continue to exist, and we will continue to resist.'
Scoop
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Proposed Changes To Relationships And Sexuality Education Will Put Children At Risk
The coalition agreement between National and NZ First promised to review Aotearoa's Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) guidelines. This review is now coming to its end, and the public have until 11:59 pm this Friday, 9 May, to make submissions on proposed changes. The proposed changes are disastrous and leave children at risk of abuse. The current guidelines, put in place in 2020, addressed gaps in the then-current 2007 guidelines regarding consent, online interactions, cultural differences, and diverse sexualities and genders. Although NZ First was part of the government that created the 2020 guidelines, they campaigned in 2023 on removing them as part of their pivot to a 'war on woke'; Winston Peters tweeted 'Why are our school children, from age five, now being taught about 'relationships, gender, and sexuality'?' (1) The reason children as young as 5 must be taught the importance of consent is because this is one of the most - and potentially the most - effective strategies for combating sexual abuse. Teaching children what consent is, how to recognise breaches of consent, and the fact that they have a right to autonomy and to report harm done to them, gives children the tools they need to detect when people mean to harm them, and to report this harm. We have decades of research demonstrating that sex education is a necessary and effective tool for preventing abuse. (2) While the proposed guidelines retain mention of consent, they eliminate mention of gender diversity. This creates a dangerous gap in the curriculum in which trans, non-binary, and intersex children will not see themselves reflected in consent education, and may only be taught about consent within the confines of normative gender experiences. As members of the queer and trans communities, many of us at Queer Endurance in Defiance understand what it is like to grow up in a world that does not acknowledge your existence, knowing that our autonomy is not valued as highly as our peers'. The current government's regressive plans for RSE put gender-diverse youth at risk by failing to acknowledge the intersection of social marginalisation and abuse. Trans, non-binary, and intersex youth are often targeted because we are seen as of lesser value, because police and courts do not care as much about our rights. Teaching gender-diverse children that they are valid and that their autonomy is just as important as anyone else's empowers them to detect and report upon those who would harm them. By removing reference to our existence, the government is actively putting gender-diverse children at risk of abuse. This is a deliberate choice that has been made to put children in harm's way, and it has been done because the government does not care. You have until just before midnight friday to submit against this plan. We recommend using the Greens' submission guide and making your voice heard: - Queer Endurance in Defiance References: (2): See K J Zwi, S R Woolfenden, D M Wheeler, T A O'brien, P Tait, K W Williams: School-based education programmes for the prevention of child sexual abuse (2007); Kerryann Walsh, Karen Zwi, Susan Woolfenden, Aron Shlonsky: School-based education programmes for the prevention of child sexual abuse (2015)
