Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill; Inclusion of recognition of Transgender Marriages.

Queer Avengers are pleased the select committee has recommended passing the bill. We are particularly pleased with the inclusion to recognise established marriages for transgender and transsexual (trans*) people following a legal change in gender.

QA member, Luca Larkin says “This decision means a lot to myself and my wife, we have been on this journey together and it requires strength and determination for a relationship to navigate. To go through this process together and survive the demands it places on your family and to THEN be told that you must now get a divorce is disgusting. Our marriage should be celebrated in this but instead we are given an impossible choice.”

Larkin says she and her wife have three children together who have happily accepted the transition and felt it would have been difficult for them to understand why their loving parents had to divorce.

Sally Dellow, a trans* member of Queer Avengers is happy the select committee has acknowledged that “issues around marriage are often different for the Trans* community than they are for the gay and lesbian communities.”

“Removing the need for Trans* people to choose between their identity and their marriage will result in one less conundrum for Trans* people to negotiate as they strive to be who they are.” Says Dellow.

Queer Avengers will continue to push the point that the passing of the bill will not result in an end to trans* phobia, homophobia and bullying. Beyond marriage is an integral part to our ongoing struggle and being able to stand in solidarity with the trans* community is a big part of that.

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>