Kerekere ElizabethDr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green): It is with great pleasure that after generations of systemic discrimination and decades of community activism the Green Party is proudly here today to maintain our long-stated policy that takatāpui trans intersex and non-binary people should be able to self-identify their gender on their birth certificate so that all New Zealanders can have documents of identity that reflect who they are. Ngā mihi ki a Minister Jan Tinetti for bringing this bill into the House after it has been stalled for so long. We acknowledge there are many other aspects to this bill but we are focusing on legal gender recognition tonight.August 2021 will go down in the history books as one of the most momentous months for rainbow communities because only last week the conversion practices bill passed its first reading and Laurel Hubbard competed as the first openly trans woman at the Olympics. Who knows how well Laurel could have performed if the entire world wasn't watching her so closely with so many of them judging her not just for being there but for her very existence. Tēnā koe e te rangatira. Greetings to all of you in the gallery tonight all our youth leaders all of our community leaders and a particular shout-out to Mani Mitchell whose leadership for intersex people has taught us all and as a mentor to me tēnā koe.The Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill has arrived here today without the fanfare that accompanied the conversion practices bill. It is however no less significant. I offer a peppered whakapapa that got us to the point. It is by no means the full extent of organising in our communities or even in this House. As with many of the issues facing people with diverse genders sexualities and sex characteristics the discrimination against us can be easily traced back to colonisation and the way that early colonists and missionaries pathologised and criminalised us and any person who did not fit their construct of a real man a real woman and people who should be in heterosexual non-monogamous—no monogamous!—relationships. Our people rejected and subverted it back then and we've continued to do so ever since.Fast forward to this century. In 2004 the first openly trans member of Parliament in the world the legendary Georgina Beyer had her member's bill drawn from the biscuit tin to specify gender identity in the Human Rights Act. The acting Solicitor-General at the time however concluded that trans people were already included in the sex section of the Act so she withdrew it. The Human Rights Commission has maintained since then and even before then that that it is the correct position. However gender expression is not included. After extensive consultation in 2017 the Human Rights Commission produced To Be Who I Am Report of the Inquiry into Discrimination Experienced by Transgender People. It identified the lack of protection for trans people whose documents of identity did not match their actual gender identity or expression. Unfortunately though many of us cited it the recommendations contained within were left to languish. Until that is in 2012 as a direct result the Department of Internal Affairs amended their passport policy allowing holders to select F M or X options for their sex through a statutory declaration process with no requirement for medical evidence. In 2013 the New Zealand Transport Authority—you know that radical department—followed suit with options of male female and indeterminate. So contrary to the ominous predictions and fearmongering of anti-trans lobbyists no women's rights have been eroded since then in changing rooms bathrooms or anywhere else. What has happened is that trans intersex and non-binary people have gained some more dignity in their lives.Also in 2013 trans activists and allies wrote the first Universal Periodic Review to the United Nations which raised this issue—shout-out to Joey Macdonald and Jack Byrne and all the other activists who fed into the work at that time. Around that time my colleague and long-time rainbow leader in this House the fabulous—but humble—Jan Logie ran a consultation with the trans community to identify the issues they wanted the Green Party to progress for them. Jan met with Allyson Hamblett another trans woman regarding their struggles with legal gender recognition. Jan supported Allyson to make a petition.In 2015 a coalition of rainbow organisations was formed in Wellington—shout-out to InsideOUT Tīwhanawhana Bella Simpson and other groups who are part of that coalition—and we took a series of recommendations to Parliament and of course this was part of it. The International Day Against Homophobia Transphobia and Biphobia Coalition presented again in 2016 and has maintained contact with the Parliamentary Rainbow Network ever since. Allyson Hamblett presented her petition in 2016. It called on the Minister of Internal Affairs to enable adults with intersex conditions trans and other gender-diverse adults to change the sex details on any official documentation. In 2017 the Government Administration Committee agreed and recommended that the Minister of Internal Affairs instruct officials to review section 28 of the Act with a view to amending it to an approach predicated on self-identification. I acknowledge the members of that select committee the chair Hon Ruth Dyson Matt Doocey Paul Foster-Bell Hon Nanaia Mahuta Hon Scott Simpson and Jan Logie who replaced Barry Coates for the Greens. I am told that one National member uttered the fateful words Why would the court get to decide someone's gender?" Why indeed? The Hon Ruth Dyson spoke directly to the Minister at that time who was Hon Peter Dunne who was very receptive. In that same year the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill was first introduced to Parliament. The select committee heard the evidence of the multiple activists however as we've been told the Minister decided not to proceed.In 2020 the PRISM report—if you're involved with rainbow communities you should be very familiar and if you have not got this then I suggest you do—Human Rights issues relating to Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) in Aotearoa New Zealand. Shout-out to Taine Polkinghorne from the Human Rights Commission who co-ran the consultations and wrote this report. It states the current process "presents an obstacle to the full enjoyment of the right to legal gender recognition by restricting access and privileging those who pursue a medical transition. Such a process is inconsistent with the rights to bodily autonomy and integrity due to the requirement of modifying one's body in order to acquire a birth certificate displaying the correct sex. UN bodies have found that if a person is forced or coerced to undergo surgeries or hormone treatment in order to obtain legal [documents] this may amount to ill-treatment or torture".So let's look at the legislation itself—the light reading of 118 pages we got given yesterday. This process will enable trans intersex non-binary and takatāpui people to move from a Family Court process to one where they can make a statutory declaration. It is only fair that every takatāpui trans non-binary and intersex person born in Aotearoa should be able to change the gender marker on their birth certificate through a process that is mana-enhancing accessible and affordable. We think this Supplementary Order Paper is close to achieving that. We do have some issues. We'll continue that conversation inside the select committee but particularly for tonight I want to point out that we agree that there must be pathways for New Zealand citizens who were born overseas migrants refugees and asylum seekers to obtain certificates or other documents of identity issued by Internal Affairs in their self-identified gender. To conclude I look at where we have come to and I wonder what we can learn from all of this. Number one: all the hard work is worth it. Every hui every submission every petition—it is worth it. All the collaboration the checking of each other's work making sure we have consistent language the tiredness—it is worth it. Number two: we have allies who will help us and who will stick their necks out for us in the community and in this House. Never pre-judge somebody based on their political affiliations. We do not know what is happening in their lives we do not know what is happening in their heart. To conclude: as a takatāpui cis lesbian femme ally to our takatāpui trans intersex and non-binary whānau to all of those here and those of you watching and in honour of all of those we have lost because of that discrimination and violence against you I am very proud to commend this bill to the House. Kia ora."