Georgina Beyer,Trans Politician

? November 1957

“It is important to allow people who want to be positive contributors of our society regardless of sex, race, creed and gender to reach their human potential.”

“It is important to allow people who want to be positive contributors of our society regardless of sex, race, creed and gender to reach their human potential.”

As the first openly transgender person in the world to hold a national office, Georgina Beyer was elected a member of Parliament in New Zealand. Beyer’s transformation from stripper and prostitute to politician is a testament to her remarkable fortitude.

Beyer, born biologically male, spent her early childhood on her grandparents’ farm in rural New Zealand before moving to Wellington with her mother and stepfather. From an early age, Beyer recalls feeling like a girl trapped in a boy’s body.

In her 20’s, Beyer began working in the Wellington gay nightclub scene as a singer and drag queen performer, and then a prostitute. During a trip to Australia, she was attacked and raped by four men. Beyer refers to this experience as her defining moment.

In 1984, she had sexual reassignment surgery and forged a successful career as a film and television actress in Auckland. She was often typecast as a drag queen or streetwalker. From Auckland, Beyer moved to the small conservative town of Carterton, where she took a job as a youth social worker.

In 1993, Beyer was elected to the Carterton District Council. Two years later she was elected Mayor of Carterton, where she served for five years. In 1999, she won a seat in the New Zealand Parliament. While in Parliament, Beyer helped pass the Prostitution Reform Act, which decriminalizes prostitution and protects sex workers and their clients. She was instrumental in securing same-sex civil union benefits for New Zealanders.

Beyer chronicled her life in “Change for the Better: the Story of Georgina Beyer” (1999). A documentary film about her, “Georgie Girl” (2002), won international awards.

Beyer was a keynote speaker at the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights in Montreal in 2006. She retired from Parliament in 2007, saying, “I can now look for fresh challenges.”

Bibliography

• “Georgina Beyer.” ILGA Trans Secretariat. June 27, 2008 
• “Georgina Beyer Biography.” Georgina Beyer Website.  June 26, 2008
• “Interview with Georgina Beyer.”  P.O.V. June 20, 2003
• Marks, Kathy. “The Double Life of Georgie.” The Independent.  July 19, 2002

Articles

• “Movie Review: Georgie Girl.” The New York Times. 2002

Books

• Change for the Better: the Story of Georgina Beyer.” (1999)

Films

• Georgie Girl (2003)

Interviews

• “Interview: Georgina Beyer.” GenderTalkRadio. May 22, 2007

Websites

• Georgina Beyer Website

Related articles

• Anna Grodzka Becomes Poland's First Openly Transgender Member of Parliament (huffingtonpost.com)

Gay adoption, New Zealand: It "will happen" -Shelley Bridgeman

"A recent Herald-DigiPoll survey found that 54 per cent of people think gay couples should be allowed to adopt children while 36 per cent disagreed. Two years ago a Herald website poll had 41 per cent in favour and 59 per cent against, according to Derek Cheng's article Majority back gay adoption.
Our collective attitudes towards the rights of gay people are clearly becoming more liberal. Most of us see this as a simple human rights issue. The fact that adopting a child isn't an option for same-sex couples is discriminatory and doesn't sit well with our aims of achieving an egalitarian society."

full report at NZ Herald News 

New Zealand: Majority back gay adoption

A majority of (New Zealnd) voters support changing the law to allow gay couples to adopt children, according to the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey.

Labour and the Greens have pushed the rights of gay people as an election issue, but the National Party has sidelined them as not a priority.

Adoption in New Zealand is governed by the Adoption Act 1955, and Labour and the Greens say the law needs of an update.

More than half - 54.3 per cent - of the poll respondents said the law should be changed to allow gay couples to adopt children, 38 per cent disagreed, and 7.7 per cent did not know or refused to answer.

Green MP Kevin Hague

Green MP Kevin Hague, who has started a cross-party group to find political consensus on gay issues, said the result was pleasing.

"It's great to see that most New Zealanders now support this, and I'm confident that once it's in place, that majority will increase even more.

"What should be at the centre of adoption laws is putting the interests of the child first. To do that you've got to have all the options on the table."

- NZ Herald News

Gay marriage and adoption movement launches in New Zealand

 Today, New Zealand will Legalise Love.

Legalise Love, a movement to supporting gay marriage and adoption in New Zealand, has launched today.

As well as promoting the acceptance of non-heterosexual New Zealanders, Legalise Love will help Kiwis fight the legislative inequalities they face, which stop us from being an equal nation.

As a nation at the forefront of human rights, it's hard to accept that in New Zealand, we aren't all equal.

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