KiwiAnimations is speaking to a group of voters at the University of Waikato about ACT policy on LGBTQIA rights

Hey everyone, thanks for turning out! I won’t keep you here for long.

Today I want to talk about ACT’s forward-looking policy on LGBTQIA rights, especially when it comes to transgender people. At ACT we believe it is unquestionably important to uphold and increase the rights of LGBTQIA people in New Zealand, to allow them a fair chance at life.

Already, we’ve done a lot to support valuable members of our community - we’ve streamlined gender changes on documents and strengthened anti-discrimination laws - already more than the negligent leftist government had done in their time in office. And this was under time pressure considering we spent only half the usual time in office. With your support, and a full term, ACT can push more reform, more transformative change, for a more equal, and free New Zealand. Some of our policies include; supporting the ban on conversion therapy - a stain on modern society that enables the oppression of people’s identity - ACT will not stand for this archaic practice which is at best psuedoscience and at worst torture! In a modern democracy this should simply not exist, and I’m proud to represent a party which takes a hard line against such barbaric practice.

We will also cover gender reassignment and hormone treatment - and a new addition to this policy - subsidising gender affirming surgeries and other related operations for transgender people so that they can feel secure in their identities and who they are! This is important for ensuring fairness in New Zealand communities - making sure everyone’s rights count and allowing transgender people to live out the lives they deserve. ACT proudly stands by this policy, as we strongly believe this is the only way forward. We pledge to combat LGBTQIA housing discrimiantion to ensure a truly level playing field, as traditionally such waiting queues and lines have discriminated against LGBTQIA people. We at ACT fully believe this is necessary to move towards a better and more inclusive New Zealand, where antiquated, homophobic and transphobic laws no longer plague our citizens!

We also want to commission a report which investigates the government’s responsibilities to our rainbow community, and lays out where we can improve, and how we can be more inclusive. The LGBTQIA community continues to be mistreated despite New Zealand’s culture being fairly inclusive - at ACT we believe that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure LGBTQIA people in all walks of life feel comfortable being who they are. Using this report, we can see where the most attention is needed from the government, and proceed to take steps which will ensure we can create a welcoming environment for the rainbow community.

We at ACT are determined to make New Zealand as inclusive as possible for the LGBTQIA community. As you all might know, we’ve already made progress on this. So, you can believe me when I say we are determined to keep fighting the good fight for the rainbow community, so that everyone can feel safe and comfortable being who they are in this beautiful country, and especially around the mighty Waikato!

Thanks for taking the time out of your days, which I am sure you are all anxious to get back to. Remember - two ticks for act are two ticks for your future, so please vote! That’s all from me, but feel free to ask me or my team questions if you see them around in Hamilton or Tauranga, and hopefully I’ll see more of you soon!

Think Now, ACT!

Thank you all and have a great day!