Complaint re Christchurch Press Article

8 May 2023

Kamala Hayman,

Editor,

The Press.

Christchurch.

Dear Kamala,

I wish to lodge a complaint against the article written by Hanna McCallum titled : “Most violent targeting of any community” and published in The Press on Friday 5th May 2023.

My complaint is that in my opinion the article was in breach of the Media Council’ Principle 1 Accuracy, fairness and balance.

The article claims to uphold truth and valid opinions on a number of important social issues such as Covid 19 mandates and transgenderism. The report claimed that since the arrival of United Kingdom women’s rights activist Possie Parker there had been increased targeting of the transgender community in New Zealand which had become violent, including explicit methods of torture and death.The report claims that the neo Nazi and white supremacist groups had been accepted into this new community due to their shared beliefs about transgender people. These are very serious and alarming accusations which have not been substantiated with any evidence.

I am totally opposed to the incitement of violence, harassment of any person who supports men wishing to identify as women. I am aware of Stuff’s policy that people can reject the gender that their Creator has assigned to them at conception because God is not in control, we are We thus all have a right to choose what ever gender we want for whatever period we choose.

It is incorrect and unfair to demonise Possie Parker as the cause of the alleged anti -transgender bigotry. She is a women’s rights activist who believes what women have believed since the beginning of time, that women are exclusively biological women with XY genes who are born with a uterus and who can alone conceive a child and bring it to birth. Biological men have XX, genes and there is there is no surgery that can make them women. She believes that biological women and their daughters have a right to not have biological men invade their space in toilets, changing rooms and in sport.

I have read the report and am greatly fearful of the claim:

“Building… as a tool of genocide, the transphobic narrative turn does not need to establish grounds for hate, incivility, vulgarity, racism, misogyny, rage, and the language of genocidality; instead, this turn can build on that which has strong foundations, including the indicators of widespread use of the language and visual imagery of genocide.”

I believe that it is unfair for this article to seek to silence those who have the integrity and courage to have a different view and opinion to those who run the Disinformation Project. It is unfair to describe these people as neo Nazis or members of the far right.

I believe that The Press should be at the forefront in promoting a civil and respectful debate in the community on the issue of transgenderism and not supporting the Disinformation Project which seeks to silence and banish those with a different view.

I also believe that this article is unfair, Stuff has an editorial policy that its journalists do not write opinion articles. In my opinion this is an opinion article disguised as news.

In view of the fact that the Disinformation Project is government funded, the community have a right to know that it is obligated to defend government policy and to treat those with a contrary view as ill -informed and promotors of conspiracy.

In my view this report of the Disinformation Project is a threat to free speech and our community.

Disagreement is not hatred. Debate is not violence.

In conclusion this article lacks balance, this news report presents exclusively one voice and that of the Disinformation Project. There was no attempt to include any other voice that would have spoken in defence of women. Women have human rights and have a right to be heard.

Yours sincerely,

Ken Orr,

Right to Life

Right to Life