The \u201cnational day of action\u201d featured speeches, waiata and karakia after the large group ended their march at Te Komititanga Square. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government wants to sow division among the people of Aotearoa through hateful rhetoric, targeting tangata irawhiti for cheap political stunts that will achieve nothing positive for anyone and only bring harm to our rainbow community,\u201d Rainbow Action T\u0101maki wrote on Instagram. <\/p>\n
Thousands of Kiwis marched through central Auckland, rallying against New Zealand First\u2019s controversial proposal to define \u201cwoman\u201d and \u201cman\u201d in law. Photo \/ Marzia Solarian<\/p>\n
The organisers said the event was to show the Government that they would not be divided.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will show them the strength of our community, and that we will not be defined,\u201d they wrote. <\/p>\n
Videos from the event showed the passionate protesters filling the width of Queen St, with one sign saying, \u201cWinston is weird\u201d. <\/p>\n
Another sign said, \u201cYou can\u2019t legislate our identities\u201d. <\/p>\n
What is the proposal? <\/p>\n
Earlier this year, New Zealand First<\/a> said it wanted to clarify the definition of a woman<\/a> and a man in law, introducing a Member\u2019s Bill<\/a>. <\/p>\n The move follows the UK Supreme Court ruling<\/a> that the term \u201cwomen\u201d as referred to in the British Equality Act refers only to biological women. It\u2019s also the latest in a series of legislative proposals from NZ First<\/a> in its so-called \u201cwar on woke\u201d.<\/p>\n The party wants to see \u201cwomen\u201d defined in law as an \u201cadult human biological female\u201d and \u201cman\u201d defined as an \u201cadult human biological male\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe purpose of this amendment is to uphold legal certainty, protect the integrity of sex-based rights and ensure that language in law reflects biological reality,\u201d an explanatory note within the legislation says.<\/p>\n \u201cThis definition will apply in all contexts where the terms \u2018woman\u2019 and \u2018man\u2019 are used, unless explicitly stated otherwise in specific legislation.\u201d<\/p>\nNZ First leader Winston Peters said the legislation was \u201cnot about being anti-anyone or anti-anything\u201d. Photo \/ NZME <\/p>\n