YOLOFAM

This bill will legally define a woman as an “adult human biological female” and man as an “adult human biological male”. This will allow the government to legally discriminate against Transgender, Intersex and Takatāpui New Zealanders. There have also been concerns raised that using the word adult in the definition will exclude minors from women's rights such as access to abortions. I remind you that this government does not care about women. In 2025 this government passed the equal pay amendment act which made it almost impossible for women to make pay equity claims, as of May 2026 this is currently being investigated by the United Nations for systematic discrimination against women. It has been clear to me and hopefully you how badly similar bills in the US and UK have affected Trans and Intersex citizens. In short, this bill could affect their access to healthcare, government IDs that match their gender, gendered services and overall safety. Internationally, bills like this one have also negatively affected cis women and girls who they claim to protect. In the US we have seen this lead to “genital inspections” to allow young girls to play sports and the end of Roe v. Wade which has taken away access to abortions for many women and girls even in cases where the pregnant person's life is at risk. The wording of the bill is intentionally vague, unscientific and intentionally does not define what biological female/male means. Biological sex in humans is not black and white there are many variables, this definition leaves biology up to interpretation by politicians not biologists. Vague wording is often used against the queer community, as for example seen with the ban of drag “in public or anywhere minors might be present” in Tennessee 2023 where the lack of definition of “male or female impersonator” made it unclear whether trans or gender non-conforming people would be allowed in public spaces. In a real life scenario how do you even prove someone's biological sex by this vague definition since this bill claims it will “ensure that language in law reflects biological reality”? Are for example women trying to access women’s shelters going to have to endure hormone or chromosome testing, genital inspections, must they always carry their birth certificate to prove their assigned sex at birth? For a bill that claims to support reality they seem to have not even considered its real life application. Let me know if there's anything I should add/correct to this post!