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Treating people as second class citizens on the grounds of sex, race, colour, creed, sexuality, employment, HIV status or any other criteria is unjust and morally reprehensible. It also promotes exclusion, discrimination, and fuels the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Since becoming a Member of the New Zealand Parliament in 1999, I have been doing all I can to pursue the priorities of my electorate - jobs, training, health and measures to improve the quality of their lives. But as the first transsexual Member of Parliament in NZ, and in the world, I am also committed to improving the lot of other transsexuals, gay and lesbians and minority groups.
What is clear from my experience is that no matter what group one belongs to, or identifies with, everyone has the same basic human needs and rights - the right to education, shelter, food, access to health services and medicines, and above all, the right to live in dignity in a safe and caring environment.
This is why I fully support the reduction of human rights abuses against lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgendered and intersexed people worldwide. And why I agreed to attend the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum session at the ICAAP in Kobe, Japan.
I have been called all sorts of names. I won't go into the negative ones. I have also been vilified by detractors such as the Destiny Church. I have been called "a walking advertisement for transparency" because before I went into politics, I decided, given my history, I want to do it with a clean slate. It's only fair that people know who they are considering to put into a position of responsibility. And it relieves me of a whole lot of unscrupulous media that wanted to uncover scandal after scandal as they delved into my past.
So the publication of "CHANGE FOR THE BETTER - the story of Georgina Beyer as told to Cathy Casey" in 1999 and reprinted in 2002, and the showing throughout the world of a documentary Georgie Girl about my life has served this purpose. I have been invited to many places and have found myself in many situations which I would not have otherwise been in, had I not been the first transsexual Mayor and Member of Parliament in the world. Meeting the Queen of England when she arrived in NZ on her 50th Jubilee was particularly memorable. From being a drag queen to meeting the Queen, as one reporter remarked.
What I enjoy most is being called a source of hope, inspiration and motivation for people, especially the marginalized. Responses from all over the world have made me realize that we all need to work together to break down the barriers raised by homophobia, discrimination, and hatred. We need to work together to overcome the ignorance and prejudices that perpetuate the suffering and injustices in our societies.
In NZ, we in the Labour Party are working towards creating an inclusive society that caters for the needs of all its citizens, and not just those of the wealthy, the vocally vociferous and the powerful. We would like to live in a society that celebrates its diversity by ensuring that all groups are provided with basic human rights and the means to be able to live peacefully and realise their potential. The alternative is fear, hatred and loathing brought about because of exclusion, prejudice and ignorance. These are the conditions which provide fertile grounds for HIV to flourish.
I am fortunate that NZ has a Parliamentary democratic system that enabled a person like me to become an MP. I am fortunate that my Labour Party colleagues and especially our Leader, Prime Minister Helen Clark are very supportive and inspirational.
It's the less fortunate, the less vocal, the poor, the marginalized that we all need to fight for. I often think of others before me who helped to provide a person like me with the status and position I enjoy now. Sonja Davies and our leader Prime Minister Helen Clark are two inspirational women for me. And of course anyone in the gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, intersex world who have had the courage and the spirit to stand up to the mark, to expose themselves and become vulnerable in order that they can put a stake in the sand and say, "Hey, I have a right to exist here. I want to co-habitate with you and participate positively in our society. But I am the person who I am" And I think that very simple statement of being out like that is an inspiration and has been to people like me, and now I suppose I join those ranks.
I am particularly proud of the role I played in getting two important laws passed that affects the rights of minority groups - the Prostitution Reform Bill (2003) and the Civil Union Bill (2005).
The Prostitution Reform Bill decriminalizes prostitution and provides sex workers and those involved in the industry with rights. Sex workers can ask for an employment contract and are protected by health and safety laws. The Bill requires brothels, clients and sex workers to practice safe sex to reduce the spread of STIs, including HIV.
As a former sex worker, I supported this Bill for all the prostitutes I've ever known who died before the age of 20 because of the inhumanity and hypocrisy of a society that would not allow them, or give them the chance, to ever redeem whatever circumstances made them arrive in this industry.
The Civil Union Bill (2005) allows same sex and de facto couples to legally register their union but stops short of calling it a marriage. Opposition to the Bill centred on the perception that same sex unions was a danger to the institution of marriage, arguments based on pious moral grounds, with a very strong religious overtone. We in New Zealand live in a secular society, and, while much of our tradition may be based on the Christian ethic, in the modern world there are a number of other beliefs. Should we all live under the tyranny of the majority of so-called "Christian" believers alone? No, we have a much more diverse basis of belief. One of them happens to be that some people choose not to get married but would like to choose some other way of having their relationships solemnised and recognised by the State and society, and to move on with their lives and be part of that cornerstone that helps build strength into this country of ours. The bill is about building nationhood. It takes nothing away from anybody.
Providing a mechanism for same sex couples to formally solemnise their relationship is part of Government's objective of creating a positive human rights culture. The Bill addresses the situation in which same sex couples cannot receive legal recognition of their loving and committed relationship. We still have a long way to go to transform our society. I have also sponsored a bill to add gender identity to the prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Human Rights Act.
It doesn't make sense to marginalize people like myself, gays, lesbians, people living with HIV or any other minority group. It does not make sense to deprive anybody of their basic rights to food, shelter, education and medicines.
My simple plea is that all people who are genuine and honest should have equal opportunity to strive towards their life goals in order that they can be positive and contributing participants in society. It's a win-win situation! Although I have enough work to do for my electorate in NZ, I would very much like to explore how I might be able to do more outside of NZ. I look forward to learning from the experience of other countries attending the ICAAP in Kobe.
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