Helen Joyce, Casey Costello and FSU CEO Jillaine Heather met in the minister\u2019s office on Wednesday. (Source: Facebook)
\n\u2018Worst sort of human rights abuse\u2019<\/p>\n
Neither Costello nor Stephenson heard Joyce\u2019s speech in parliament, though Act Party MPs Simon Court and Cameron Luxton, as well as more than a hundred FSU members and activists, were in attendance. The event was MCed by the FSU\u2019s new chief executive Jillaine Heather, who made reference to The Spinoff\u2019s questioning of Costello over her meeting with Joyce \u2013 the minister was disappointed that \u201cnothing else she was doing was media worthy\u201d, Heather told the crowd.<\/p>\n
Describing herself as \u201chere from Terf [trans-exclusionary radical feminist] island\u201d, Joyce spoke for over an hour on her criticisms of \u201ctrans ideology\u201d, which she described as \u201cvery simple, but very wrong\u201d. That trans people should be allowed to use a bathroom that corresponds with their gender is the \u201cworst sort of human rights abuse\u201d on women, Joyce claimed. She referred to gender medicine as \u201cjunk\u201d, compared trans people to flat Earthers, misgendered them and suggested trans women were predatory in using women\u2019s bathrooms.<\/p>\n
A 100-strong crowd of mostly FSU members heard Joyce speak at parliament.<\/p>\n
Joyce wouldn\u2019t go into the details of her \u201cprivate\u201d conversation with Costello, but told the crowd that much of her political lobbying revolved around puberty blockers and the \u201csuicide myth\u201d. She claimed that puberty blockers \u201cdo not improve mental health\u201d in trans people \u2013 and \u201chaving a trans identity does not increase your suicide risk at all\u201d. Joyce referred to a UK report<\/a> which found that restrictions on puberty blockers have not led to increased suicides, though many other reports point to improved wellbeing<\/a> and curbed suicidal ideation in trans youth who receive gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n She also referenced\u00a0 the Law Commission\u2019s recent Ia Tangata report, which suggested 27 reforms to the Human Rights Act (HRA), including one to cover discrimination faced by transgender or non-binary people and those having \u201can innate variation of sex characteristics\u201d. Joyce encouraged the crowd to convince their peers of the \u201charm\u201d of gender ideology, giving the example of her lobbying effort in the UK to have the media cover the story of Sandie Peggie<\/a>, a nurse recently cleared of gross misconduct after complaining about sharing a changing room with a transgender colleague.<\/p>\n When the floor opened up to questions from the room, prominent anti-trans activist Rex Landy<\/a> asked Joyce how she could persuade others into gender criticism. \u201cIt\u2019s the only mental illness that they demand is a civil right,\u201d Landy said of trans people. \u201cI say things that are a bit beyond the pale, because that gives people permission to think what they\u2019re thinking. There\u2019s nothing you could say that\u2019s worse than what I\u2019m thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Many of their expressions are quite vicious\u2019<\/p>\n Meanwhile, 400 metres down the road at the Wellington district court, the Human Rights Review Tribunal closed a chapter on a landmark case<\/a> that will decide whether discriminating based on transphobic views impedes on human rights. <\/p>\n