Submission on Inquiry into Supplementary Order Paper 59 on the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill

Kia ora koutou,

My name is Damian Light, I was born in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and have lived here my entire life. I work fulltime in business improvement and volunteer in my local community through a number of charitable organisations.

I support the proposal to make it easier for all New Zealanders to correct their records. The gender and sex marker should be self-identified and a painless process to update.

The current process is complicated, expensive and at times traumatic for those involved. Unnecessarily involving the Family Court or medical professionals does not enhance the process, it just makes it less accessible for those that need to use it. While the majority of New Zealanders will notice little change, making this process easier will make a huge difference for those that do need to utilise it.

It’s essential that the changes made by this SOP and Bill are focused on improving the process to streamline it as much as possible. Therefore there is no reason why correcting records on gender identity should require surgical procedures - surgery isn’t always suitable or desired and there is still a lack of access for many.

The Bill is written to exclude those born overseas which does not resolve issues with self-identification for permanent residents born overseas, migrants and refugees. The Bill should include a simple administrative process that every New Zealander can access, regardless of their place of birth.

It has been frustrating to see this small, but significant improvement take so long due to unwanted political interference and campaigns of misinformation based on bigotry and fear. I implore the committee to ensure that submissions are considered based on their relevance to this SOP and Bill.

Ngā mihi nui,

Damian