Gender & Sexuality
in New Zealand

Katie Dukes

Question:

What comes to mind
when you think of New Zealand?

Obligatory Equaldex Chart

Background
& Context

 History

• 1200-1300

  Arrival of Polynesian settlers  

•  1642

  Arrival of Dutch explorers

•  1769

  Arrival of English colonizers

•  1840

  Treaty of Waitangi

•  1907

  Dominion

 Demography

• European = 70.2%
• Māori = 16.5%
• Asian = 15.1%
• Pacific = 8.1%
• MELAA = 1.2%

 Culture

• Official languages are English, Māori, and NZSL
• Radio and television stations dedicated to
  Māori programming
• Expectation of familiarity with common Māori phrases, protocols,
  and customs

Traditions
& Laws

 Māori Traditions

• Multiple gender categories prior to European arrival
• “Transgender people play an important role...
  as holders and transmitters of ancestral knowledge.”
• Homosexuality was accepted in early culture & depicted in art

 Colonial Laws

• NZ was first nation in the world to give women the right to vote (1893)

• MSM criminalized starting in 1840,
  but never WSW

  • Homosexual Law Reform Bill of 1986
     

Modern Laws

• Bill of Rights Act of 1990
• Human Rights Act of 1993 
• Domestic Violence Act of 1995 
• “Michael” v. Registrar-General of Births,
  Deaths, and Marriages (2008)
   

New Zealand Now

Gender Equity

• 38% of MPs in Parliament are women,
  as is Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
• Last year the Ministry of Health boosted the funding available for gender-affirming surgeries 
• Kiwis may choose M, F, or X (gender diverse) on passports
• Parents of intersex babies may choose to have a child’s sex registered as “indeterminate” on a birth certificate​
  • Intersex activists are working to ban the practice of gender assignment surgery at birth
• NZ has developed a new statistical standard for gender identity which should enable them to collect more accurate data about issues such as gender-based violence

Sexuality

Suddenly considering a move
from America to New Zealand?
NZ has a link for that!

Link to Notes
& Sources