My submission on the N.Z. First Gender Definition Bill

I wrote a submission yesterday on the New Zealand First Gender Definition Bill, which seeks to biologically define a man and a woman. In this article I explain why my submission does not support it.

This Bill of Parliament is open for submission until 02 July 2026.

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MY POSITION:

I do not support this Bill of Parliament.

INTRODUCTION:

My name is Robert Glennie. I am a son, brother and great/uncle.

Whatever sexual orientation my family, my friends, colleagues and associates identify with, is not for me to moralise about. It is for me to be understanding and as supportive as I can be of their decisions. And I try to be.

Which is why I submit against this Bill of Parliament.

There are numerous academic papers which demonstrate that the definition of gender is more complex than the black/white one that this Bill of Parliament is promoting. I list a couple of those papers at the bottom of this submission. I also provide a bit of national and international context, citing activity in the U.S. and New Zealand along these lines.

I also believe that this Bill is dangerous and sets a slippery precedent. New Zealand has generally been very tolerant of the L.G.B.T.Q. community. An attack on any part of this community I consider to be an attack on the rest of it. Thus, I have concerns that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer parts of the community may be justified in feeling threatened by this.

I am further concerned that there are parts of the New Zealand¹, led by people such as Brian Tamaki, who actively seek to harass, threaten and intimidate the L.G.B.T.Q. community. They will feel emboldened by this attempt to legislate. The violent actions of Destiny Church last year at Te Atatu library, serve as a warning to the L.G.B.T.Q. community of the kind of danger that would be potentially unleashed on some of their number if this Bill were to be passed into law.

But, the primary reason I do not support this Bill, is that I believe it to be a waste of Parliament time and resources, including the taxpayer dollar funding this. Gender identity wars have been imported from other countries, notably the United States where Republican-majority states² have legislatures whose legislative agenda are dominated by Bills attempting to erase or alienate transgender people.

We are not the United States. New Zealand does not need this this gender war nonsense.

I take the stance of The Opportunity Party. Opportunity have called this Bill of Parliament out because it conflicts with the Bill of Rights Act (1990). It is poorly designed. The definitions are politically loaded and ignore the academic papers that I shortly mention. But moreover, it targets a select group of New Zealanders for no good reason and it tries to turn them into pariahs.

But I will go one step further and note that if this Bill of Parliament does pass, we have the added socio-economic cost of a vulnerable group being subject to violence. The evidence overseas is that transpeople are far more likely than non-transpeople to experience domestic and other violence^{3, 4}. On that basis I can reasonably argue that this will do more damage than good

New Zealand was made strong by its tolerance of minorities, not by its tolerance for discrimination against vulnerable minorities. This Bill of Parliament does not make New Zealand a stronger nation for existing.

My recommendation is simple:

Withdraw the Bill. Immediately and unconditionally.

Thank you.

REFERENCES:

¹ American Civil Liberties Union, “Legislative attacks on L.G.B.T.Q. rights 2026”, accessed 26/06/26

Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures in 2026 | American Civil Liberties Union

² Radio New Zealand, “Auckland Council slams Destiny Church for Library Protest”, accessed 26/06/26

Auckland Council slams Destiny Church for library protest | RNZ

³ Flores A., Meyer I., Langton L., Herman J., “Gender identities disparity in Criminal Victimization: National Crime Victimization Survey 2017-2018”, American Journal of Public

Health, 2021 Apr;111(4):726-729. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.306099. Epub 2021 Feb 18

Gender Identity Disparities in Criminal Victimization: National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017-2018 – PubMed

⁴ Gilmour A., Feinstein B., Plum A., “Sexual orientation, crime victimization and relationship to the offender: Insights from the New Zealand Police records, 2014-2024,

Sexual orientation, crime victimization, and relationship to the offender: Insights from New Zealand police records, 2014–2024 – ScienceDirect, 2025, Elsevier (on behalf of Royal Society for Public Health)