Should you be free to discuss sex and gender?

Do you want your doctor to be free to discuss sex and gender?
 
Should schools silence debate on gender in relation to uniforms or sports to avoid complaints?

Should employers be penalised for expressing (or allowing employees to express) views on pronouns or bathrooms?

No matter your opinion on matters related to sex and gender, I think you and I will both agree, John, we need to be able to have the conversations. But the Law Commission disagrees. 

So, on this Friday afternoon, could you spare 30 seconds to urge the Minister of Justice to reject the Law Commission's recommendations that stifle Kiwis' speech?

The Law Commission’s Ia Tangata Report (No. 150) proposes adding “gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics” as new protected grounds in the Human Rights Act.

At first glance, it might look like a tidy update. But in reality, this is a fundamental shift that undermines New Zealanders’ ability to openly discuss questions of sex and gender.

Inclusion is a commendable goal, of course, but it cannot come at the expense of excluding opinions and our fundamental rights to speak freely, debate openly, and dissent.

All people deserve dignity. But making disagreement unlawful and stifling debate is not the way forward. This week we’ve had a sombre wake up call in why words matter for finding middle ground. 

The Commission claims it’s not their role to settle contested debates about sex and gender. Then, in the very next breath, they go ahead and do exactly that – embedding ideological assumptions into law while pretending to simply “clarify” things... Can you believe it?!

The Law Commission: 

• Says “gender identity is not simply a belief or ideology” - directly taking a side (and seeming to resolve) a key societal debate. 

• Recommends providers can’t exclude someone from a single-sex facility if it “aligns with their gender identity.” 

• Creates new exceptions in sport that only allow distinctions if “reasonably required” for safety or fair competition.

This isn’t neutrality. It’s social engineering - New Zealanders must remain free to discuss questions of sex and gender openly without fear of sanction.  

These recommendations would seriously undermine freedom of expression across critical areas of public life: 

• Health professionals could be hauled up for expressing clinical or conscientious views on sex and gender. Even the Commission admits compulsory pronoun use raises free speech concerns, but offers no free speech safeguards!

• Employers and employees may see ordinary conversations, about bathrooms, pronouns, or uniforms and sports,<> reframed as “detrimental treatment,” turning respectful disagreement into unlawful discrimination and most likely resulting in new workplace policies to avoid liability, encouraging self-censorship of legitimate viewpoints. 

• Education institutions could face liability and be silenced on contested issues like bathrooms, uniforms, dress codes, sport and sexuality education. 

The Commission’s answer? Leave it to the courts. But that’s no safeguard at all, John.

It just means stressful, costly proceedings - a chilling effect long before a single case is decided. These recommendations, if enacted, would erode free speech and embed division and compulsion where open debate should prevail.  

And this isn’t new, is it? We warned before that when the Commission asked whether New Zealand needed expanded 'hate speech' or 'hate crime' laws, they were asking the wrong questions - questions that inevitably produce dangerous answers.

Ia Tangata is more of the same: ideology written into law, free speech written out. 

We’ve urged the Minister of Justice and the Law Commission to consider our concerns and to respect Kiwis' speech rights, and ask you to join us.

We’re calling on the Government to reject the Law Commission’s recommendations outright. Contested issues like sex and gender aren't simply settled when the Law Commission says so. Protect your voice - tell the Minister of Justice to stand by your speech rights here.

Jillaine Heather | Chief Executive