Follow the science Mr Hipkins
RGE writes to the new PM
4 March 2023
Dear Prime Minister Hipkins,
Congratulations on your recent selection as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
We are writing to you in your new role because as Prime Minister you have oversight of the government’s general policy direction and are ultimately responsible for the decisions of government.
We are a group of education professionals and parents who are seriously concerned at how Aotearoa New Zealand’s institutions of government are portraying gendered theory as fact, when it is a belief system that is held by only a very few people in our country. Gender identity beliefs are nevertheless now embedded in every sphere of government and compliance is demanded of all public servants. This despite a complete lack of evidence that any of these beliefs have a basis in fact.
One of the roles of public servants is to provide free and frank advice to Ministers. How can they do this if they have to believe in gender identities and risk censure in the form of written warnings if they question policies based on ideological beliefs they do not share?
There is no way to describe what has happened over the past 2-3 years in Aotearoa New Zealand, other than to say our core government institutions have been captured by an ideology. Key Ministries such as Statistics, Health, Justice and Education are actively promoting policies and practices which support this ideology. It is alarming to say the least that current research findings, which show the damage caused by these practices to the physical and mental health of thousands of our citizens, are being ignored.
Aotearoa New Zealand has followed a path that other countries trod before us, but as alarm bells have sounded overseas and more and more governments have realised the dangers of this ideology, New Zealand is racing ahead, passing poor legislation and ignoring the voices of impartial experts and the evidence they are providing.
We led the world with our early response to the dangers of the COVID 19 virus, because we learned from countries which were exposed before we were, and our government followed the advice of the experts. Who will ever forget Jacinda and Ashley on our televisions at 1pm every day providing superb leadership as they informed us of the evidence-based practices our government was implementing. We did so well with COVID because we listened to, and acted upon the evidence, and as it changed we adapted what we did so we were always following best practice as indicated by the latest research.
Why on earth aren’t we doing the same with gender ideology, especially in relation to its effects on children? There is now ample evidence which changes our understanding of the implications of social gender transition and identifies the serious side-effects of medical transition. For example, in this recent article in the British Medical Journal: https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/gender-dysphoria-in-young-people-is-rising-and-so-is-professional-disagreement/.
As the Prime Minister who is responsible for this government’s policy direction, we plead with you to ensure that in the area of gender ideology, as in other areas, policy is informed by reliable, impartial evidence.
Ngā mihi nui,
Margaret Curnow
Resist Gender Education.