This guide is intended as an update on the BDMRR Bill, and covers the important opportunity in August/September to make final submissions on the Bill.
In August we expect the Select Committee will call for submissions on the most recent changes to the Bill. These changes will be explained in a Supplementary Order Paper. We know from the documents that the Minister released in July what those changes will cover and have explained them below. Submissions are likely to be open for about 6 weeks from early August 2021.
GMA has a primer which covers the background of the Bill, and many of the issues and arguments surrounding it. We recommend that you first read the primer, available here.
Below is a summary of the Cabinet Paper and other briefings to the Minister, including the Regulatory Impact Statement. These were released in July 2021 (though they are dated 14 June on the Department of Internal Affairs’ website). These documents show strong support within the Government in favor of passing the Bill. The full documents are available below. The parliamentary papers can also be found under the heading “Ministers’ Papers – Internal Affairs”, dated June 14th 2021, here.
Submissions can be made in writing and sent by post, or submitted online via the Parliament website, here. It is also possible to present your written submission orally (face to face, by phone, or by video conference), which can make a stronger impression. If possible, it is usually a good idea to both send your written submission and present your submission orally. We strongly urge you to see our guide to writing a submission below.
The select committee process is an opportunity for the public to have a say in the final wording of the Bill, and attempt to ensure that the best possible version of the Bill makes it through the process. Once the Bill is finalised, it will have a third reading, where Members of Parliament will vote on whether it gets passed into law.
Both your views and recommendations, along with personal stories, are important. It is personal stories which capture the hearts and minds of those you speak with. While it may be tempting to refute the harmful and false claims being made by anti-trans campaign groups, the strongest position is to speak from the heart to personal experiences, and the positive impact that passing the Bill will have on yourself or someone you care about.
Who to talk with
Both the Labour Party and the Green Party are currently in favour of the Bill, which provides a strong basis for passing the Bill into law.
The National Party does not yet have an official position on the Bill. They will debate the Bill internally, within their caucus. It is very important that National Party Members of Parliament hear the views of transgender people and our allies, prior to and during the select committee process.
GMA recommends talking with or writing to National Party Members of Parliament Nicola Willis and Chris Bishop, who may be the most likely to support the Bill within the National caucus. We also recommend talking with Simon O’Connor (MP for Tāmaki, National Party associate spokesperson for social housing and social development), and Nicola Grigg (MP for Selwyn and National Party spokesperson for women).
We recommend sharing your stories with each of these Members of Parliament, your local MP, and members of the Select Committee.
Select Committee members will include: Barbara Kuriger – Chair, National Party MP for Taranaki-King Country. Tangi Utukere – Co-chair, Labour Party MP for Palmerston North. Rachel Boyack – Labour Party MP for Nelson. Naisi Chen – Labour Party list MP. Nicola Grigg – National Party MP for Selwyn.
In particular, Nicola Grigg and Barbara Kuriger are important MPs to reach. They represent rural communities, and will likely respond best to messaging about common sense values, evidence based policy, supporting women, opportunities for youth to move into leadership, cutting bureaucratic red tape, stronger community networks, and supporting families. They will also respond more strongly if people within their electorates make appointments with their electorate offices to meet them in person.
Areas of Focus
Please note that you do not need to speak about every focus area. Organise with friends and cover one area each. A sound argument for one point is likely to be more effective than touching on all of them. Your entire submission should ideally be no longer than 2 pages.
The BDMRR Primer (linked above) contains other points which you may be interested in submitting on. The focus areas below are high priority for us.
Young people aged 15 or younger
The government proposes that youth aged 16 or 17 would be able to make the application themself, and need either the support of a guardian or support from a qualified third person.
However, under the current wording, applicants aged 15 and younger need to have a guardian make the application on their behalf, and also require a letter of support from a qualified third person.
This discriminates against youth aged 15 or younger who may have unsupportive or transphobic guardians. It would make it impossible for them to change their sex marker in situations where their legal guardian/s refuse to make the application.
The Bill should give transgender people aged 15 and younger an alternative option, allowing them to demonstrate their ability to make an informed decision, with support from either a qualified third person, or a guardian.
Trans people without NZ birth certificates
It is important that submissions do not conflate the experiences of all people born overseas; for example, by making generalised statements about “trans migrants, refugees and asylum seekers”. There are differences between the experiences and legal barriers faced by each of these groups; for example, based on their immigration status and whether they are able to achieve any form of legal gender recognition in their country of nationality.
GMA has worked together with Rainbow Path to make it as easy as possible to understand these differences, as outlined in the following 3 sections below.
Groups such as Rainbow Path provide important opportunities to listen to the diverse experiences of those who are directly affected by gaps in current laws and policies, and their recommendations. Some recommendations are within the scope of this Bill, while others require further changes to immigration laws and policies. If you are not sure what the solutions are, it is still valuable to mention the legal gender recognition gaps that need to be addressed.
1. Removing existing rights for permanent residents born overseas
The Bill replaces the current Family Court process with a simple statutory declaration. For most people that is a very positive step. However, the Government has taken a backward step for permanent residents who were born overseas.
In 2008, after a recommendation in the Human Rights Commission’s Transgender Inquiry report, the law changed so that at least the first step in the Family Court process (obtaining a Declaration as to Sex) became available to permanent residents. With trans people no longer needing to go to the Family Court, that sole option for permanent residents has been removed. As currently worded, the Bill is restricted to people whose birth was registered in New Zealand (including children adopted from overseas).
A solution must be found to ensure that transgender and intersex New Zealand permanent residents born overseas do not lose the right to an official document that accurately recognises their affirmed sex. This includes quota refugees who are granted permanent residence as soon as they arrive in New Zealand. This solution should be an administrative process based on self-determination (self-identification), to be consistent with the changes the Bill is making for other trans people in Aotearoa.
2. No options for migrants on temporary visas
The existing Family Court process and the Bill as currently drafted both exclude migrants living in New Zealand who are on temporary visas. Some may have lived in New Zealand for a long time. Trans people born overseas, particularly trans people of colour, are regularly asked to show their passport to prove their immigration status, including their ability to work or study here. They face significant challenges when they have no New Zealand documentation with a name and sex marker that matches their affirmed gender.
3. Asylum seekers and Convention refugees on temporary visas
Rainbow Path is an advocacy and peer support group for the rights of Rainbow refugees and asylum seekers living in Aotearoa New Zealand. They have been lobbying since 2018 on the need for asylum seekers and Convention refugees to be able to obtain official documentation with their correct name and gender marker. Without such documents, they face immense barriers trying to access basic fundamental services, and potential danger every time they use outdated ID from their country of nationality.
Currently, only permanent residents can amend their name in New Zealand. They are also excluded from the current Family Court process to get a Declaration as to Sex because they are not permanent residents. It may take asylum seekers many years to find out if they are accepted as Convention refugees. Even then, they have no way to change their name until they can eventually afford to apply for, and are granted, permanent residence. This process can take multiple years. Once an asylum seeker is accepted as a Convention refugee they have the right to live in Aotearoa indefinitely and cannot be deported. New Zealand is their home, and yet they cannot obtain an official document with their correct name and gender.
Rainbow Path has emphasised that official documents must not include the transgender person’s original name or sex marker or in any other way disclose that they are transgender. Doing so would pose significant safety risks for those fleeing persecution for being transgender, including for partners or family members overseas. This is why a document like a name change certificate is not a suitable option for transgender refugees and asylum seekers to use on its own to verify their identity.
Rainbow Path is lobbying for trans asylum seekers and Convention refugees to be able to get their correct name and gender on the certificates of identity and refugee travel documents issued by the Department of Internal Affairs and Immigration NZ.
We would like to say a big thankyou to Sophie for nominating us, to the amazing communities of Wellington who support us, to our 2021 sponsors Wellington City Council, Tindall Foundation, and the A. W. Newton Bequest, to Wellington Airport and Wellington Community Trust, and most of all to trans folks; who inspire and motivate us to do what we do. Special thanks to the older generations who paved the way, and to the youth who push for change.
Tips for writing a submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee. Structure your submission as follows.
Submission on the …….. Policy (or Bill) To the ……….. committee Date.
Personal Details. a) This is a submission from ……..(name of person, group, or organisation, address, and post code). b) Details about yourself, or your organisation, it’s purpose, membership, structure, other relevant details as to your/your group’s experience in this area, and people involved in writing the submission. c) We can be contacted at (contact details).
Submission a) We support/oppose the intent of this bill because …… b) Community experience – this is your chance to capture hearts, so don’t just give facts, include personal stories. c) Recommendations – list the specific recommendations which you, your group, or your organisation wants the committee to take into consideration.
We wish/do not wish to make an oral submission before the committee.
Committees may have dozens or even hundreds of submissions to get through – they may prefer to read just a couple of pages (around 800 words). Again, if you keep it short and to the point you will make more of an impact. In saying that, longer submissions are also read, and if you have a lot to say that’s completely acceptable as long as you stay on topic.
You could think about what your headlines would be, and then write under them. This can help to keep things structured and on point.
It is important to note that if you intend to give an oral submission, you are only allowed to talk about the things you have mentioned in your submission – so for example you might want to mention healthcare access rather than surgery access, which gives you more scope for elaboration.
Submissions are either entered online, or 2 hard copies are required if submitted by post. These must be received by the committee secretariat before the closing date.
Find out more about how a Bill becomes a law below.
In 2021 BDMRR posters again went up across Aotearoa. We’d like to say a huge thank you to Phantom Billstickers for their support.
A great place to display these is in the window of your home, or ask local shop owners if they would like to help support trans people by putting one in their window.
Download the PDFs
You can download the PDF for each poster on our posters page.
We also published a pamphlet, which was distributed by trans people and allies across Aotearoa. You can dow3nload this by clicking the button below, or scroll down to read the text on this page.
Understanding the BDMRR Bill – self determination for transgender people
BDMRR stands for Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration. This is an Act in New Zealand law which sets out the legal requirements for, amongst other things, changing the name or sex marker on ones birth certificate, due to marriage, civil union, or being transgender, for example.
The BDMRR Bill is suggesting changes to this law, which will likely be decided in 2021.
Some of those changes relate to updating the sex marker on a person’s birth certificate.
What’s the problem with the current situation?
Trans women are already legally recognised as women by New Zealand Law, and changing a sex marker on a passport is a simple statutory declaration process. However, in order to change the sex marker on a birth certificate, the law requires medical evidence and a Family Court process. This can be difficult, expensive, and is at odds with NZ policies for passports and other identification documents, as well as with international best practice for human rights.
This impacts most on those who do not undertake medical steps as part of their transition due to health, poverty, disability, religious beliefs, or other reasons, and for people waiting for medical treatments which can take many years to obtain. Some do not want medical treatments (eg. sterilisation), but may be pressured to have them in order to obtain accurate identification documents with their correct gender marker.
It also impacts strongly on those who don’t know how to make a formal legal application to the Family Court, and can’t afford a lawyer to apply on their behalf – which can cost up to $3,000.
Why is it so important?
A birth certificate is the only document that someone born here can never have taken away from them. In some significant life events, it is the sole document that will be accepted as proof of identity, rather than a passport or other identification. For example, the gender marker on a person’s birth certificate is used on their marriage or civil union certificate, on their child’s birth certificate, and on their death certificate.
What are the benefits?
1. Meet international human rights standards.
New Zealand’s policy for amending sex markers on passports, introduced in 2012, is often cited as one of the best in the world. In contrast, the current BDMRR Act provisions for amending sex markers on birth certificates, developed over 25 years ago, are outdated. They have not kept pace with international human rights standards, which set out each person’s right to legal recognition, regardless of age. The current BDMRR Act does not meet the requirements set out in international case law or recommendations by United Nations bodies that monitor treaties that New Zealand has ratified.
2. Reduce costs and free up time.
Moving from a Family Court process to a statutory declaration will reduce cost barriers for irawhiti takatāpui, trans, and non-binary people and their whānau, and free up the court’s time, and it would reduce the administrative burden on the health professionals who are asked to supply medical evidence for each application.
3. Support kids to be in school.
This would have a significant impact on children who live in an area with an unsupportive school, and are currently forced to wear a uniform they are uncomfortable with and use bathrooms that they are likely to be harassed in, as well as facing misrecognition or even harassment from authority figures. These children currently experience extreme distress and often simply leave school regardless of their age. Trans kids have exceptionally high likelihood of being bullied, self harming, and attempted suicide (40-61%).
4. Support adults to be in employment.
It would significantly impact adults who currently have to disclose being transgender to potential employers, and are often then discriminated against and denied employment, or outed to colleagues; resulting in curiosity, continual uncomfortable personal questions, and in many cases workplace bullying to the extent that the trans person can no longer work.
5. Basic privacy and quality of life.
Passing the Bill would make an important practical difference for irawhiti takatāpui, trans, and non-binary people’s daily lives. It would support the basic human right to privacy in situations where showing a birth certificate is mandatory.
Would passing the Bill affect everyone else?
Passing the Bill would have very little impact on non-transgender people. Since 2013, NZ has used a simple statutory declaration for changing one’s gender marker to M, F, or X, on their passport. A passport is used proof of identity in most circumstances. Several other countries have passed similar legislation over the past decade, without any negative impact on women’s rights. These include Belgium, Portugal, Argentina, Norway, Malta, and Ireland.
Is an anti-trans campaign group trying to recruit you?
An anti-transgender campaign group will often try to disguise it’s motivations, by saying it is a women’s rights group, or a feminist group. However, it does not usually engage in any women’s rights issues, unless the issue can be used to fight against the human rights and legal protections of transgender people, or sometimes women in sex work. Far from a group FOR women, it is a group AGAINST transgender women.
Anti-trans campaigners say:
Women will have less rights
But the evidence says:
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women ( a United Nations treaty), firmly affirms that transgender women are protected as a sex class. This right to be protected from discrimination on the basis of sex does not detract from any other person’s right to non-discrimination on the basis of sex. This is already the case in NZ, and the Bill will not change this. All women will continue to have the same right to not be discriminated against on the basis of their sex.
Anti-trans campaigners say:
Male privilege
But the evidence says:
Both international and local research consistently and constantly shows that transgender women experience higher rates than non-transgender women of discrimination in education, housing, healthcare, employment, access to justice, legal documentation, higher rates of violence including sexual violence, higher rates of street harassment, and other indicators of a lack of privilege. No studies show the opposite. This is not what male privilege looks like.
Anti-trans campaigners say:
Male pattern violence
But the evidence says:
There is no evidence that trans women perpetrate violence toward other women at a higher rate than other women do. Anti-trans groups may cite a study in which it was found that older trans women face high levels of imprisonment and arrest, however, one of the women who conducted this study, Cecilia Dhejne, explained that this study does not show “male pattern violence,” and that to say it does is a gross misrepresentation.
Anti-trans campaigners say:
Women’s prisons
But the evidence says:
There are systems in place to minimise violence, including sexual violence, between prisoners housed together. Department of Corrections confirmed that it is prepared to make adjustments if the Bill should pass.
Other countries with similar legislation have not reported any negative effect on women prisoners.
Anti-trans campaigners say:
Women’s bathrooms/ refuges/spaces
But the evidence says:
These do not require birth certificates to enter. Women’s refuges already allow transgender women and have for many years. They have evidence based processes and protections in place to ensure all women who enter are kept safe. They already protect women who are fleeing violent relationships with other women, where those abusive partners may seek to access the refuge by deception. No woman can enter a women’s refuge without legitimate need. Other countries with similar legislation have not reported any rise in sexual violence in women’s spaces as a result of the legislation.
Anti-trans campaigners say:
Men will pretend to be trans women and enter women’s spaces
But the evidence says:
There are no reported cases of men in NZ using the statutory declaration process to change the sex marker on their passport in order to ”game the system” and sexually assault women. Trans women are already legally recognised as women and there have been no ill effects.
Anti-trans campaigners say:
Single sex schools
But the evidence says:
In Aotearoa, we have many co-ed or mixed gender schools, and students are considered safe attending these. There are currently single sex schools which accept transgender students.
Anti-trans campaigners say:
Data will be skewed
But the evidence says:
Transgender people make up just 1% of the overall population, therefore this is unlikely to have much bearing on data about women overall.
Anti-trans campaigners say:
No public consultation
But the evidence says:
The Bill has been through the same public consultation process as any other Bill, including public submissions, analysis of submissions, expert advice, and changes as necessary. Many of the anti-trans campaigners made submissions, which can be viewed on the government’s website.
