Why cis women need to stand up for trans rights

Trans women are women, and trans rights are women’s rights.

Auckland Women’s Centre – te Wāhi Wāhine o Tāmaki Makaurau – welcomes all women, cis and trans, and non-binary people. We condemn all attacks on trans and other takatāpui and LGBTQI+ rights, from Brian Tamaki’s damaging of rainbows, and his ongoing intimidating events and hate-filled symbols, to a New Zealand First member’s bill restricting who can use women’s bathrooms, and the Government’s “watching brief” around NZ First proposals to restrict trans women’s involvement in community sport.

These acts are related: the Government’s signals have emboldened violent extremists.

Transphobia is an imported social poison designed to “distract attention from real problems”, as the (now former) Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, puts it. Despicably, politicians show their contempt for us all by trampling on human rights as a political tactic.

In addition, transphobia invalidates many deeply-held gender understandings and traditions around the globe – a hallmark of white supremacy.

This is about powerful people opportunistically scapegoating “easy prey”: groups who are already targeted for hate and who don’t necessarily have the public platform to respond.

Trans people in Aotearoa, including trans women, face considerable discrimination, bullying and violence, leading to high rates of distress (CountingOurselves.nz).

Commissioner Mijatović points out transphobic politicians “seek to blur the lines” by “adopting the vocabulary of human rights, but what they are doing in reality is working to deprive other groups – mainly women and LGBTI people – of their rights”.

Yes, transphobia works to deprive all women – trans and cis – of our rights.

The Government is restricting freedom for all women by policing what we say, and wanting to police what we look like when we use public toilets; making sexual violence more likely (by removing sexuality and relationship education guidelines – including on consent); and emboldening jocks, bigots and vandals who oppress women while ostensibly espousing women’s rights.

The squeeze is real. The patriarchy gains power from policing gender identities and sexualities, dictating gender conformity and restrictive gender expressions.

Conservative gender norms lead to the devaluing and disrespect of everyone not seen as fitting into the privileged gender “box” of being a straight cis man who is a landlord and plays golf.

Positively, around a year ago, Aotearoa NZ showed itself to be one of the most pro-trans rights countries in the world, with 84% of us agreeing that “transgender people should be protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and access to businesses such as restaurants and stores”.

Sport New Zealand already has guidelines to ensure the safe inclusion of trans women in community sport. We have guidelines to ensure young people and adults receive gender-affirming healthcare which is both psychologically and physically safe. Transgender people have settled in Aotearoa as refugees, because they were safer here than among the hate in their country of origin.

We can be proud of all those indicators of human rights support. We now have to work together to increase these freedoms, not just keep the still-inadequate status quo.

Let your MPs and other public figures know that you want them to be vocal and genuine in their support for trans rights. If you can, give financial support for gender-minority organisations, and let friends and family know you support trans rights too. An attitude of “live and let live” is no longer enough to keep our communities connected and supportive, in the face of imported malicious threats of “divide and conquer”.

Our vision is that all women, trans and cis, and gender minorities, enjoy full access to our human rights, including the right to live in safety, and the right to live free of gender discrimination. Part of that means that women can choose to take their children to drag queen storytime without fear. And that women can enter public toilets without fear that they will be challenged for not being “feminine” enough, or “cis-gender” enough, which we know is what the transphobes actually mean.

We see and feel the pain of those who have been directly targeted, by ongoing threats and attacks. We support you; you are our siblings, our community, and we are deeply angry at those in power who are doing the opposite of empowering our trans and gender-queer whānau with protection and respect.