RODNEY HIDE: Not the same thing

When gay people asked to be left alone, it was a simple ask. I supported that. Two adults, same sex — the state had no business in it. That was the liberal position, and it was right.

I might regard it as a sin -- but we don't outlaw sin. We don't lock up sinners -- or throw stones at them.

Then the language changed. Gay, lesbian and bisexual were rolled into a longer string, and we were told the next letter was the same fight. It isn’t.

A gay man knows he is a man. A lesbian knows she is a woman. Their argument was about who they love, not what they are. Nobody had to rewrite the word woman for them to exist. Nobody had to put a healthy child on medicine.

The trans claim is different. It says a person’s inner sense outranks their sex. Once you accept that as the definition of man and woman, you are not being asked to tolerate a neighbour. You are being asked to reorganise the public square: law, sport, prisons, changing rooms, and the language we use about children.

That is why the friction showed up first among lesbians. A lesbian space used to mean women. If a male who identifies as a woman has a right to that room, the room is no longer what it was. Calling that “inclusion” does not make the boundary disappear. It just tells the women they are not allowed to notice.

I can wish every trans adult a quiet life, free of thugs and of the state poking them. That is not the same as agreeing that sex is a costume, or that a girl must share a changing room with a boy who claims to be one.

We were told this was kindness. Kindness does not require you to lie. Accepting gay people asked us to mind our own business. This asks us to pretend. Those are not the same demand, and pretending they are has not made anyone safer. It has only made it ruder to tell the truth.

Rodney Hide is a former Minister and ACT Party leader