Source: Human Rights Commission
Information for tangata whenua, Pacific and ethnic communities
Support for people from tangata whenua, Pacific and ethnic communities who are experiencing conversion practices
For tangata whenua, Pacific peoples and ethnic communities who contact us, we aim to provide dynamic support within our service. People you speak to will have an awareness of the range of circumstances you could be facing. We endeavour to have a service that is culturally appropriate and safe, including a range of mana-restoring practices firmly grounded in tikanga. If you would like to know more about the options available through the complaints process, you can call free on 0800 496 877 or email [email protected]
What we heard
The Commission has engaged tangata whenua, Pacific peoples, and ethnic communities to further understand their experiences and needs for the conversion practices complaints service.
They all noted that experiencing conversion practices compounded existing discrimination they faced, particularly racism. Their experiences of conversion practices were influenced or underpinned by the influences of religion, culture, colonisation experiences, and even political rhetoric. These issues are complex, and interdependent.
Therefore, sensitivity is required to ensure that people experiencing conversion practices have adequate information and agency to make informed decisions, such as, how to either lodge a complaint, or ask questions about other options available to them. This is also why the Commission is undertaking education and prevention about conversion practices and general homophobia/transphobia for relevant community leaders. We also aim to help and support communities to reduce general stigma and discrimination against rainbow communities. As we develop or gather these resources, we will be adding them to our Resources page.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Te Tiriti o Waitangi (‘Te Tiriti’) recognises tino rangatiratanga over sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expressions, and sex characteristics. No person should be discriminated against on the basis of these characteristics, and these rights to be free from discrimination on this basis extend to tangata whenua.
The medical characterisation or suppression of sexuality or gender fluidity is also contrary to Te Tiriti. The Commission therefore considers that conversion practices are a breach of human rights and Te Tiriti.
In 1840, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (‘Te Tiriti’) was entered into by Māori Rangatira (chiefs of high rank) and Kāwanatanga (the Crown).
Article 1 of Te Tiriti extended Kāwanatanga rights to the Crown. Te Tiriti granted the Crown authority to reside in Aotearoa to govern its peoples under its own laws, subject to Māori tino rangatiratanga (absolute authority including self- determination).
Tino rangatiratanga stems from inherent pre-existing rights and whakapapa (genealogy) connections Māori have to land and the natural environment.1 It entails obligations to manaaki (care for) and tiaki (protect) Māori whānau, hapū, iwi and communities.
Te Tiriti obligations are also upheld by international human rights standards and guidance which set out the importance of Indigenous Peoples right to self-determination.
Therefore, Te Tiriti entails tāngata whenua to uphold their own modalities of tino rangatiratanga over their sexuality, gender, gender expressions, and sex characteristics.
Te ao Māori historical context
Long before the European colonisation of Aotearoa New Zealand, those who had fluid genders or sexualities were accepted within whānau and te ao Māori.
Takatāpui scholar Dr Elizabeth Kerekere notes: “Missionaries and puritans worked hard to suppress any expression of sexuality or gender fluidity. Takatāpui behaviour was hidden and takatāpui stories were erased, deliberately not translated or recorded. Because of this, these stories became forgotten over time.”
Takatāpui is a traditional term reclaimed by some Māori to embrace both their culture and spirituality, as well as their diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics. Stories of takatāpui as part of the whānau have been passed down through waiata, karakia, and carvings.
Te reo Māori has no gendered pronouns, and many atua (gods) did not have genders or changed genders. The exclusion of any whānau for perceived transgressions was unknown. Even when individuals committed crimes, the exclusion of that individual from their hapū was not part of tikanga (tikanga, in this sense, meaning law).
Being takatāpui was not a crime, nor were takatāpui shamed. Other than arranged marriages amongst Rangatira whānau, individuals were free to choose their partners and to leave them. Even the individuals in arranged ‘marriages’ were free to exercise their personal rangatiratanga and leave. Choosing one’s partner was not confined by the rigid rules around sexuality and marriage that constrained Christian settlers. The medical characterisation or suppression of sexuality or gender fluidity was not tikanga.
You can read more here.
