A very important submission to Manatū Hauora
Thank you to the Ministry of Health for giving me this important opportunity to have my voice heard, and recognising that this is a matter for the whole nation to decide.
Thank you to the Ministry of Health for giving me this important opportunity to have my voice heard, and recognising that this is a matter for the whole nation to decide.
We watched the latest season of Heartstopper this week, at first an episode or two at a time, and then the back half of the season all in one night.
I've been in Lisboa, Portugal for the past week, attending my first WPATH symposium. It's my first time here and I'm glad I came, but it's also been a strong reminder of how far we still have to go.
So, where is the problem? If the authors cannot identify a case where Sport NZ's guidelines might cause an issue - why, then, does Chris Bishop reckon "they make some fair points"?
I was invited to present at the Physiotherapy New Zealand conference in Ōtautahi in September, 2024.
The Olympic spirit is aspirational, and I think it's one that's worthy. But, in contrast, the reality of the Olympics and how they've been used to violently enforce these ideals leaves a lot to be desired.
A new report from the Yale Law School, Yale Medical School, and the Integrity Project (based at Yale Law) was released this week, critically examining the Cass Review, its processes and its findings, and has found it critically flawed.
It's hard, at the moment, for me to remember that there's a full life outside of work, so it's been nice to get to do that for a weekend. Lots of people don't know that I have a background in music and radio, and I got to do a bit more of that again recently, too.
I don't think this bill was ever intended to pass. While it certainly seems Seymour and Peters have the run of the house, I'm not sure that Peters cares enough about this bill to hold the coalition government in a stranglehold over it. So then, who's afraid of gender?
A common refrain I've heard in the past is something like "why do you have to make being trans such a huge part of your identity?" At the moment, I think about being trans every day, because I have to.
Aotearoa seems a little dimmer today. The sitting government using urgency to rush through a bill ahead of a Waitangi Tribunal hearing seems so out the gate - I feel like if you wrote it in fiction, you'd be ridiculed for being too unrealistic.
Around eleven, twelve-ish years ago, a young and very nervous Jennifer Shields went to see her doctor. After a bit of a circuitous journey, ten years and one month and a few days ago, she went back to her doctor and left with a small but lifechanging bit of paper.
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On new years eve eight years ago I moved back home to Ōtautahi, a city I hadn't lived in since I was ten, a city that had changed so much in the years since. It was the best decision I ever made - I'm so grateful for it today.
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I am relentless with hope. We keep turning up. Ōtautahi spoke up, big time.
What a year it's been since Friday, huh?
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The Gaza strip is 41km long, a distance so long to walk and so short to shelter from bombs. 41km is ten laps of Hagley Park.
This piece of writing feels just as massive as the weekend it grew out of. I was lucky enough to travel to Narrm for the 2023 combined AusPATH & PATHA conference.
Coming up on 12 years ago, a very nervous 17-year old went to see her GP about hormones. Now she's leading training for GPs around the country.
I cross the last bridge and I can hear sound of water gently falling, over and above the sound of water roaring of rocks below me.
Submit to support reducing the voting age, and attend rallies around the motū with the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa.
It was a big weekend for Aotearoa, and not the outcome we wanted. It was a concerning election, but with some big wins. What's next for our communities?
Let's go on this hīkoi together.
Queer joy is more important than ever.
After a few years of better-than-it-was reporting around rainbow issues, Stuff (and the Southland Times) are back at it again today with poor, unethical, and irresponsible reporting about trans folks.