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Editorial Director
David Hauslaib | Email
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Andrew Belonsky | Email
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The Attorney General of New Zealand recently decided that the country's Human Rights Act includes transgendered people even though they are not specifically named in the legislation.
"[I have] no reason to suppose that sex discrimination would be construed narrowly to deprive transgender people of protection under the Human Rights Act," he said in his official statement.
That's all well and good, but what if the next Attorney General does see a reason to suppose that trannies should not have the same rights and freedoms as other New Zealanders? The statement was made so that a transgender member of Parliament would drop her bill that would require the inclusion of transgendered people in the Human Rights Act.
We have been conditioned by our own government that words basically mean nothing without writing to back them up, so perhaps we're being overly cautious, but why not just amend the Human Rights Act and be done with it?
New Zealand Human Rights Law Protects Transsexuals [365 Gay]
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The Attorney General's position is based on legal advice from the Solicitor General. The Solicitor General is not an elected office, and it would be highly unusual for a later Solicitor General to repudiate the advice of one of his predecessors.
Ultimately it is for the Courts to decide whether sex discrimination includes discrimination against transgendered people. You're right that it would be safer simply to amend the Act, but in the absence of this, at least the Solicitor General (who would represent the government in any court action) has made his position clear.