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SUPPLIED / Stuff
Tamati Coffey, a Labor MP from the Waiariki electorate, said she struggled with outdated adoption laws when her son was born by surrogacy.
Labor would ban conversion therapy and provide gender-neutral toilets in public schools as part of a set of LGBTQ + policies announced Monday.
Rainbow Labor spokesman Tāmati Coffey said the party would pass a law banning conversion therapy in the next term, calling the controversial practice “fundamentally wrong.”
Conversion therapy is the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation through psychological or medical intervention. It is widely discredited as ineffective and harmful.
“Conversion therapy is based on the misconception that people are wrong or broken because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This is fundamentally wrong, ”Coffey said, before the policy announcement at Wellington’s gay bar Ivy.
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FELIX DESMARAIS / THINGS
Green MP Jan Logie has said that a rainbow affairs ministry, department or agency would help streamline funding and advocacy processes. (Video first published in March 2019).
“The evidence shows that it is relatively common and a recent survey from New Zealand found that more than one in six participants reported that a professional had tried to avoid being trans or non-binary.
“It is a hurtful and out of place practice in the friendly, inclusive and modern country that we are,” Coffey said.
The policy announcement also included an additional $ 4 million in funding for rainbow mental health initiatives.
Rainbow people in New Zealand have a disproportionately high level of mental health problems compared to the rest of the population and are at increased risk of suicide.
Other policies announced include reforms to the adoption processes. Under current law, couples using a surrogate to give birth must go through a rigorous legal process to adopt their own genetic children.
The adoption process includes court orders, home visits, and interviews to determine suitability. Both the UK and Australia have recently announced similar reviews.
Coffey had to go through the adoption process himself in 2019, when he and his husband Tim Smith welcomed their son Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey.
Labor MP Louisa Walls spearheaded the announcement for gender neutral toilets.
“Research has shown that fostering ownership in the school environment improves student achievement,” said Wall.
In a recent survey, less than half of trans and non-binary high school students reported that unisex restrooms were available at their school.
The Government would work with schools to provide unisex restrooms as an option for students and would require gender neutral facilities for all new school construction.
