Ardie Bea's Photography

Frog bakes a loaf of bread!

reblog this post if your account is a trans safe space or owned by a trans person!

You know how many of us have been thinking, "But that first moment didn't really seem like such a big deal..." and defaulting to their second meeting in Gender Studies? This:

Rather than this?

And it sort of makes sense - Joyce herself in that second moment introduces herself as if it's their first meeting - but regardless, the strip is immediately focused upon Walky's infatuation with Dorothy, and Joyce's equivalent adoration (remember how she was rendered speechless by her hiccups at the same moment that Walky was rendered speechless by his newly-awakened hormones?) has been downplayed by our consistent assumption of their heterosexuality. Well, we aren't alone in wondering about that 'first moment'; Joyce herself has been aware for a while, now, about the apparent incongruity of their first meeting seeming so ordinary:

and we're getting RID OF IT????

For those who don't know, recently this Bill was proposed in Parliament in Aotearoa New Zealand by an MP from New Zealand First, a right-wing party that makes up part of our current coalition government:

This Bill proposes adding definitions of "woman", "female", "man" and "male" to the Legislation Act 2019, making these the new legal definitions of these terms that apply across all New Zealand Legislation.

This Bill ignores the fact that trans people in Aotearoa have been able to legally amend their gender markers since 1995, and that people can register their legal gender as non-binary. It also fails to account for the existence of intersex people and general variations of sex characteristics that make this binary impractical (and ironic given the use of the term "biological reality"). AND it does not take into account the fact that Māori (the indigenous people of Aotearoa) recognise multiple genders and did not follow gender roles as westerners see them until colonialism happened.

On top of all that, the claims of protecting the integrity of sex-based rights fall short when you realise that the ambiguity of what "adult" refers to here will actually potentially remove rights, especially around reproductive rights of young people.

The Bill was read at Parliament, and the other parties making up the coalition voted to allow the Bill to pass on to a select committee to review the Bill, gather information, and make a formal report for the House with their recommendations. A part of this process is accepting public submissions.

People can make submissions in support of or in opposition to the proposed bill. You can make your submission online here:

https://www3.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/54SCSSC_SCF_9E8E8A14-A51C-4567-AB33-08DE9053A7D1/legislation-definitions-of-woman-and-man-amendment-bill

If you need support with drafting your bill, there is a guide on the Parliament website, and some helpful folks have put together a site of resources including a submission generator. (If people have more resources for support, please feel free to add them in reblogs or comments)

Submissions close on Thursday, 02 July 2026 at 23:59 New Zealand Time.