The Green party can only blame themselves for selecting an activist as co-leader. Marama Davidson has divided the party with her radical views, many of which have nothing whatsoever to do with what is supposed to be an environmental party. If I was unkind I would say that she puts the mental in environmental.
I always thought that she would have to work hard to outdo herself after she repeatedly said “Cunt” in public on camera and in front of families with young children. Wanting to reclaim the word Cunt was pretty out there for a politician let alone the co-leader of a party in government.
Now she has gone one better by upsetting the feminist wing of the Green party by telling a bare faced lie. Last year we had Labour MP Louisa Wall slurring feminists as “TERFs”, and now we have the co-leader of the Green party defaming a long time Green party member and feminist, Jill Abigail, by saying that the content of her article “puts trans rights to exist up for debate.”
NZ Women’s Rights group Speak Up For Women has penned an open letter to the Green party in response to Marama Davidson’s defamatory claim.
We, the undersigned, write to you to express our support for Jill Abigail and her article published in the 2019 Spring issue of Te Awa (Green Party News publication).
We reject the assertion of Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson that the article “puts trans rights to exist up for debate” and condemn the public vitriol Jill has been subjected to by members of the party.
Many of us are Green members or former Green members and we are seriously concerned at the refusal of the Green Party to hear the concerns of women that our rights are being impacted by the rapid adoption of gender identity ideology.
We echo Jill’s sentiment that “it would be progressive of the Greens to be working for solutions that are fair to everyone, rather than reinforcing the current divide”.
We call for the Green Party to answer the following questions in order to make plain their positions in this contentious space:
- What is a woman?
- Does the Green Party believe people born female deserve their own spaces for free association, social and political organisation, safety, dignity, and privacy?
- Does the Green Party accept that some people are exclusively same-sex attracted – that is, they are exclusively attracted to people of the same biological sex?
- Does the Green Party support the need for discourse, even around issues that may be considered contentious, when differing perspectives are held by party members?
- Does the Green Party accept that in the New Zealand Human Rights Act sex is a protected characteristic and there are specific exceptions to protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of women? If yes, how does the Green Party reconcile the Human Rights Act with their treatment of women who, like Jill Abigail, have raised concerns about the erosion of their rights?
- Is the Green party concerned about the increasing number of children and young adults being referred to endocrinology services? If not, how does the party explain this sudden and rapid increase in numbers?
We suggest James Shaw, Marama Davidson, and the Green Party apologise to Jill Abigail for the defamatory comments and bullying she is being subjected to by members of the party and call for the abuse to stop immediately.
There may be a loud group of activists in close proximity to those in power, but the party is diverse and a growing number are feeling increasingly more alienated by the ideological positions being taken on gender identity.
It’s time for respectful discussion.
speakupforwomen.nz/open-letter-to-the-greens
Many of the people who signed the open letter to the Green party left comments. Here is a small selection of some of the comments.
- I’m a lifelong green voter, but never again until Marama is gone and civil discourse resumes within the party.
- I presume you will be changing your name to The Gender Identity Party before the next elections, because unless you start listening and talking with women you may as well.
- I will not consider voting for the Green Party until they publicly answer these questions
- It’s nothing short of scary that Jill’s compassionate and reasoned letter was banned. Think again Green party.
- Jill bravely spoke up about a subject that a lot of women (and men) are worried about. I am hurt to see her painted as a villain by those in power. Should those of us who share Jill’s opinion be afraid to raise them with our Green Party leadership, now? I hope not.
- I am a lifelong Green Party voter, but this will be changing unless the Green Party recognises the need for free, respectful discussion of this issue.
- I’m shocked that a life-long feminist who has given so much to the Greens has been demonised in this way for her very reasonable article. Kia kaha, Jill.
- The Green party should be committed to open and frank discussion of this topic. It should not tolerate smear tactics and bullying, especially when these dirty moves are directed at women.
- I’m not a member of the Greens but I’ve always supported the party. In the context of the massive issues facing us, for the GP to deepen the schism over this one issue is stupid. Ms Abigail did not call for a denial of the trans right to exist but sought to open to sensible debate, issues arising from the intersection between transgender identity rights & women’s sex-based rights.
- To publicly censure her, to censor the article, and to publicly apologise for publishing it, is almost beyond belief.
- The Green Party’s adoption of extreme gender identity ideology is deeply misogynistic as it completely disregards the concerns and rights of women. The reaction to Jill’s reasoned article also shows how authoritarian and anti-democratic the Party is.
- Framing women protecting our rights as hateful is nothing more than a disingenuous and manipulative attempt to silence us. It won’t work. I have voted Green my whole life, but simply cannot again while the party endorses bullying of women.
- The fascism within the Green’s party has appalled me and all those I have talked to about it. They are losing women voters by the day.
Will James Shaw do something to stem the bleeding or will he let Marama remain in place like he did Metiria Turei to do even more damage? The Green party need to decide if they are an environmental party or a gender identity party for activists. If they stick with Marama then the new Blue Green party has a great opportunity to hoover up all the disaffected female and environment loving voters.