Transgender politics
Representation in the bourgeois
parliament can be important to any liberation struggle that is still
in its infancy. Yet 15 years after the first transgender person was
elected to the New Zealand parliament, our representation has not
improved. The current parliament lacks any transgender representation
and only two political parties have transgender candidates standing
for election this year. Indeed for the past seven years we have
relied on gay or feminist MP’s to advocate on our behalf. This is
quite problematic as people who do not experience this unique
struggle tend to be quite out of touch with the community and their
experiences.
When Whangarei
lawyer Kelly Ellis first announced her candidacy for the Labour party
I was excited. Initially it looked like the beginning of a new
chapter for transgender liberation (paying lip service to liberation
struggles being one of the few things that help distinguish the
Labour party from National). When the Labour party announced the so
called progressive list however, she was ranked so low that her only
chance of getting into parliament would be winning the deeply
conservative Whangarei electorate, an impossible task during the best
of times.
Georgina Beyer has really been the only
significant transgender representative in the New Zealand parliament,
she was elected MP for Wairarapa for six years. However she later
left parliament due to the confiscation of Māori land by the Clark
government. Beyer is a Māori Trans woman who has put a lot of her
political focus on Maori struggles. Today she is the MANA Movement
candidate for Te Tai Tonga with a very small chance of winning that
electorate.
The transgender liberation struggle is
a prime example of this, those who we rely upon for advocacy and
representation are no longer able to do so effectively. The gay
community has become heavily commercialised, as well as being
dominated by rich gay men. Feminist groups meanwhile are becoming
increasingly transphobic, with Radfem tendencies becoming
increasingly dominant within Anarcha-Feminist groups. On one level
this highlights the importance of transgender representation within
parliament yet it also highlights the inadequacy of bourgeoisie
“Democracy” to properly address our concerns regardless of who is
in power.
Georgina Beyer’s selection for Te Tai
Tonga brings some hope for Transgender people. MANA however is a
small party that is only likely to send a few MP’s to parliament.
On the slight chance that Georgina Beyer can break the Tirikatene
family stranglehold on Te Tai Tonga, she will be returned to
parliament.
With neither of the major party's
running a Transgender candidate that is likely to be elected. We must
therefore focus on how we can best use radical grass roots politics
to further our struggle for liberation. The liberal approach of
“using the appropriate channels” has failed to improve conditions
for working class, Transgender people to any significant degree. And
relying on cisgender people to advocate for us is simply not
acceptable, we must fight for our rights like so many before us.
Comrade Eva.
Comments