Wrong time to make big calls

Cecile Meier missed the main point in her article on transgender rights (Behind the myths, March 25).

If you have a friend or family member so depressed that there is a 40 per cent chance of self-harm, five times more likely to commit suicide, then their judgment is off.

These are the suicide and self-harm statistics of transgender New Zealanders. No-one whose mind is so clouded with thoughts of suicide and self-harm should be encouraged to make big decisions. The legal system should slow down their ability to make big decisions, not speed them up.

Jim Rose, Miramar

Cecile Meier’s article on the trans debate contains a significant misconception. She says gender isn’t binary because ‘‘there’s a spectrum’’. No, the spectrum itself is binary, with extreme F at one end and extreme M at the other.

We’ve always known there is a spectrum of Fs (not all women are equally ‘‘feminine’’) and another spectrum of Ms (not all men are equally ‘‘masculine’’). These two meet in the middle and the edges are blurry (like with all organic categories).

The fact that some people are not decidedly F or M doesn’t mean gender isn’t binary. A lack of clarity is not a new gender, much less many new ones. (Unless, perhaps, each unique individual has their own.)

The problem is not the categories but the way people are treated when they are not easily categorised. We don’t have to redefine the human race, we have to behave better.

Gavan O’Farrell, Waterloo

Going against majority

It seems ironic that, during the 125th anniversary of the year we celebrated women getting the vote (now 126 years ago), Victoria University of Wellington’s University Council proposed dropping the Victoria from its name. The same group is still considering this proposal, even in light of the education minister’s refusal to accept it.

I don’t look at this proposal as a racerelated issue, as some have been wont, but as an historical one.

The overwhelming vote of academics and the general public was to retain the name. How could the very vocal members within Victoria’s University Council seek otherwise in the face of popular opinion. Sometimes the voice of the majority is right. When will this council get the message? Robin Boldarin, Miramar

Red flags on freedom

Muslims are often sadly misrepresented in our media as intolerant, violent, sexist and extremist. This past week showed us they are nothing of the kind. That they have been dreadfully wronged, and that we are all, in a sense, complicit in those distortions. Part of the grief on show was because we have realised this through the events in Christchurch mosques.

Martin Cocker of Netsafe (now there’s a misnomer – where in the world is there a place which is less ‘‘safe’’ than the internet from bullying, sexual harassment, hatred and racism and every other seamy underside of humanity?) declared that we couldn’t do anything internationally to contain internet trolls without blocking opportunities for genuine protest and freedom of expression (Down the online rabbit hole, March 22).

This is a counsel of capitulation to evil. We need to be really clear that any freedom we enjoy, of speech, worship, from fear and want, has always and must always be contained and restrained, when they limit the freedoms we all enjoy. There is no such thing as unlimited freedom to do and say exactly what you like. There has to be the facility to put up a red flag and say ‘‘No, you can’t say that’’.

John Terris, president,

Media Matters in NZ

It has been reported the Government will assist with funeral costs of the victims of the Christchurch mosques’ slaughter. Well done, Government.

But I’m surprised there are any costs to cover. Surely under such tragic circumstances the funeral directors involved would waive any fees and the Christchurch City Council not charge for burial plots?

Also it would be nice to know whether some of the florists’ profits from all those flowers were donated to a fund for the families of the victims. Helen Pickford, Eltham

Australia has changed its gun control. Therefore an Aussie was not able to get the guns he wanted to murder in Australia. Australia has saved 50 lives. He comes here as we don’t have proper gun control here, and therefore we lost 50 lives.

We have to bully the minority who insist on their right to have those guns. The US 2nd amendment kills 13,000 people a year. As parents have a duty to protect their children, so also does the country have a duty to protect its inhabitants.

If that means Dean Sewell (Letters, March 25) feels bullied, so be it. The safety and welfare of people is far more important than him having a semiautomatic rifle.

Adrian Moonen, Eastbourne

It is outrageous that you should choose to publish a letter (Stewart Mann, March 26) that besmirches Christians. The letter was tantamount to hate speech. Sadly though, if you are a Christian, abuse like this is increasingly common nowadays; and it comes mainly from militant atheists and the extreme Left. You should be ashamed for giving voice to such people.

Mark Cox, Mt Victoria [abridged]