A populist party in New Zealand’s governing coalition has introduced a bill to parliament that if enacted would define women and men by their biology, preventing trans women and men being recognised by law.
The New Zealand First member’s bill is a long shot to become law as it has to be selected at random from a ballot and then garner majority support in parliament.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who is also New Zealand’s deputy prime minister, said in a statement that laws should reflect biological reality and provide legal certainty.
Peters said events at home and internationally showed “the pendulum is swinging back towards common sense and proving us right”.
The bill defines a woman as an “adult human biological female” and a man as an “adult human biological male”.
New Zealand opposition leader Chris Hipkins told the Stuff news website that the bill was “typical populist politics”. At a time when New Zealanders were struggling with the cost of living, job losses and a health system in crisis, this was not a priority, he said.
The legislation the bill intends to amend sets out how terms and words commonly used in other legislation should be interpreted, such as “de facto partner”.
The bill was lodged by a member of parliament – not the government – making it less certain that parliament would allot time for it to be debated.
The proposed law follows a ruling by Britain’s highest court last Wednesday that only biological and not trans women meet the definition of a woman under equality laws. It was a landmark decision greeted with concern by trans supporters but welcomed by the government as bringing clarity.
The British ruling centred on whether a trans woman with a gender recognition certificate (GRC), a formal document giving legal recognition of someone’s new gender, is protected from discrimination as a woman under Britain’s Equality Act.
Transgender rights have become a highly political issue in many countries, with some critics saying the conservative right has weaponised identity politics to attack minority groups, while others argue that liberal support for transgender people has infringed on the rights of biological women.
In the United States, legal challenges are under way after President Donald Trump issued executive orders that include barring transgender people from military service.
