NZ First will suppress the rainbow community, but rainbow reps say Massey already neglects them

Policies from NZ First want to make it illegal to use bathrooms opposite to your biological sex and remove gender education from the New Zealand Curriculum for all year levels.  

The heavily criticized changes would undermine the rainbow community which Massey claims to support – but rainbow reps say Massey isn’t listening hard enough. 

The policies would mean trans people at Massey legally couldn’t use the bathroom of their gender and the Bodies that Matter paper would be the first chance anyone has to learn about gender in formal schooling. 

Albany rainbow representative Ben Watt said NZ First candidate Lee Donoghue was “uneducated” on TVNZ’s Young Voters’ Debate last week, and questioned if the policies are against the human rights act. 

Donoghue tried to defend his party’s stance claiming, “we’re not on another planet”, and blamed high rainbow community suicide rates on gender education in schools. 

Watt said, “NZ First has historically been rainbow-phobic and transphobic,” with party leader Winston Peters voting against homosexual law reform and marriage equality. 

Watt pointed out that Massey had a history of its own and “definitely” wouldn’t recommend Massey to anyone in the rainbow community, citing more rainbow-safe universities like AUT. 

He called the relationship between Massey and its rainbow representatives, “for lack of a better word - fucked up”. 

Watt said Massey had been out of touch with the rainbow community when making changes that impacted them, like the botched “gender neutral” bathrooms in Albany’s Innovation Complex. 

After labelling the “gender neutral” bathrooms with the symbol of a male and female, Massey denied claims non-binary students were pointed to disabled toilets. 

Watt said, “It seems like we’re there just to tick a box, but we’re not actually there to fulfil any other need.” 

The rainbow representatives had raised concerns with Massey throughout the year but were usually ignored, as in the case with Massey’s Rainbow Tick. 

The Rainbow Tick only applies to staff, not students. 

Representatives felt the Rainbow Tick had lost its relevance and suggested Massey should obtain the Pride Pledge, a more active demonstration of rainbow support. 

Six months later, Massey had still made no change.  

However, in May Massey launched Kāhui Irarau, a social platform “designed by and for takatāpui and rainbow communities.”  

Watt said it wasn’t as empowering as it claimed to be. 

Earlier in the year, rainbow representatives raised concerns Kāhui Irarau wasn’t listening to the student voice, to be told it was basing events off a 2022 student survey. 

Kāhui Irarau also faced funding cuts in August, restricting them to two events per campus for the rest of the year.  

Watt said Massey “could do much more” as a university, considering the Wellington campus still doesn’t have a rainbow room. 

Manawatū received the first rainbow room just three months ago, while a “temporary” room for Albany was to open this semester. 

Watt said Massey is better than it used to be but is still “too conservative”. 

Diversity and inclusion advisor, Connor McLeod, didn’t confirm any plans for a Wellington rainbow room and said students with “ideas about a space on their campus” should contact rainbow@massey.ac.nz. 

McLeod said the Pride Pledge hadn't been proposed at this stage, but again encouraged students to submit ideas to the Rainbow and Takatāpui Advisory Group. 

The diversity and inclusion advisor said Massey’s rainbow representatives have a significant role with a direct line to senior leadership members.  

“There is always work needed to strengthen representatives’ impact – and with the rainbow rep positions being new in 2023, changes regarding collaborating with rainbow reps are not only invited but expected at this early stage.”