New human rights chief says comments on ‘trans agenda’ and Israel-Gaza war won’t be an issue

Monday, 19 August 2024

The new chief human rights commissioner, Dr Stephen Rainbow, is defending himself against accusations of transphobia and says his views about the Israel-Gaza war won’t be an issue.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith appointed Rainbow as head of the Human Rights Commission on Friday. He also announced new commissioners of race relations and equal employment opportunities.

But the Green Party and others have criticised Rainbow’s appointment, given his previous comments about a “trans agenda” and his more recent support of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Rainbow entered politics as a Green Party councillor on Wellington City Council in the 1980s and has a PhD in political science. In the 2000s, he campaigned for same sex marriage reform, worked for the rainbow-support charity OUTLine and was on the board of the NZ Aids Foundation.

But comments made in 2021, urging other gay and queer Aucklanders to think twice before signing a petition to ban “conversion therapy”, attracted criticism. He said the opposition to conversion therapy had been hijacked by “the trans agenda”.

“Be careful…there’s some elements of the trans agenda being sneakily promoted through this campaign,” he said, in a post to the Facebook group for Auckland’s LGBT community.

While many called his comment “transphobic”, Rainbow denied he was transphobic during an interview with Stuff’s Newsable podcast, and said he would protect trans rights as chief human rights commissioner.

“No, I'm not transphobic. And I've been very clear about the fact that that was a real learning for me when I made that post actually several years ago,” he said.

“Don't forget when you get to my age, you have made a few comments on a number of issues.”

In his press statement announcing Rainbow’s appointment, Goldsmith listed his credentials “ promoting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) rights” as part of the reason for the appointment.

Asked if he stood by that reasoning, given the transphobia allegation, Goldsmith said there had been “appropriate background checks”.

“If we limited ourselves to those who had never said anything controversial, the list would be very small,” he said.

But Green Party rainbow communities spokesperson Kahurangi Carter criticised the appointment. She said the Human Rights Commission would need to prove it took trans rights seriously.

“Trans rights are human rights. The Human Rights Commission must honour this and engage with the trans community in a way that empowers its people,” she said.

Rainbow promised he would do so, and also downplayed the significance of his comments about the Israel-Gaza war, during the interview with Newsable.

“I want to look at the things that unite us, not divide us. And part of that means that the Human Rights Commission is there for all New Zealanders, including transgender people,” he said.

During an interview with Stuff earlier this year, Rainbow made a series of attacks against the Green Party for criticising Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The war, which started when Gaza-based Hamas militants attacked Israel in October and killed about 1200 people, has seen Israel’s Defence Force kill more than 40,000 Gazans. Meanwhile, tensions in the West Bank - a Palestinian territory separate from Gaza - are also boiling.

Rainbow called the Green Party’s focus on those issues “a distraction” and said it was “turning away voters”. In subsequent posts to social media, he called on his followers to “back Israel”.

Israel is on trial for alleged human rights violations at the International Court of Justice, where South Africa is alleging breaches of the genocide convention - charges Israel denies.

Rainbow said his views on that conflict should not be an issue, given the role of chief human rights commissioner was focused on domestic issues.

“There is no one set of right views about issues in New Zealand, whether it's about the Middle East, whether it's about transgender issues, there's no one set of correct views,” he said.

He said he would “ruthlessly pursue” protections of the right of everyone to have individual dignity, and would be taking a focus on building social cohesion.

“The time when human rights are most vulnerable is when a society is divided and polarised. And we're seeing a lot of that now. And I had a personal experience of that with social media, which was very informative and educational for me. And I won't be doing that again,” he said.

Alongside Rainbow, Dr Gail Pacheco would start as the next equal employment opportunities commissioner and Dr Melissa Derby will become the new race relations commissioner.

Dr Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo, who started at the commission as equal employment opportunities commissioner in 2018, had been the acting chief human rights commissioner. In a statement, the outgoing commissioner said the new recruits would be leading a team committed to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and human rights.

Prudence Walker would remain as the disability rights commissioner.