Minister for Sport and Recreation Mark Mitchell directed Sport NZ to to withdraw its Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport in July this year. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Auckland Pride says it has taken the government to court, filing for judicial review in the High Court.
The organisation said released documents through the Official Information Act, show the minister for sport and recreation had directed Sport NZ in July this year to withdraw Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport.
The organisation which advocates for Tākatāpui and Rainbow communities made the announcement on Friday morning.
Auckland Pride spokesperson Bhen Goodsir said documents released by Minister Mark Mitchell show he did not consider the Bill of Rights Act, the Human Rights Act or Sport NZ's legal obligations when making this decision.
"The Government has also been clear that the Human Rights Act and the Bill of Rights Act protect transgender people from discrimination, and we agree," Goodsir said in a statement.
"Human rights are for everyone. When Ministers make decisions, they must follow the law and uphold New Zealanders' rights.
"The development of the Guiding Principles followed a robust consultation process shaped by affected communities. The Minister's decision did not."
Auckland Pride said Sport NZ's statutory role was to promote and advocate participation in physical activity.
Goodsir said Auckland Pride was asking the courts to send this decision back to Minister Mitchell "so he can consider the impact of his decision on our communities".
Auckland Pride said documents showed sports organisations asked for support navigating some of the nuanced challenges of inclusion and that Sport NZ consulted widely on the Guiding Principles, which were published in 2022.
Goodsir said the document offered practical guidance for local clubs on inclusion, such as utilising existing tools like weight bands and age brackets.
The Auckland Pride spokesperson said a government-initiated review began in 2024 but was halted when the principles were withdrawn before local organisations could have their say.
"Community sport is for the whole community... It makes sense for Sport NZ to support local organisations that are asking for guidance on how best to achieve that.
"Overseas culture-war tactics have turned this topic into a vector for misinformation elsewhere, but our focus is on work here. Our case simply asks that the minister consider his legal obligations, and the needs of the community, before making a decision," Goodsir said.
Asked about the judicial review, Mitchell's office replied: "The Minister won't be commenting on the matter at this time."
Legal conversation around community sport participation 'so important', mountain biker says
Mountain biker Kate Weatherly said she was grateful for Auckland Pride's legal action and that it reignited an important conversation New Zealand needed to have.
"We're talking about the ability of trans people to engage in communities in a way that feels authentic to them and a way that they can be comfortable and lean into those spaces.
"The decision to remove guidelines around anti-bullying and ensuring that people feel they have a space in community sport was pretty challenging, and for Auckland Pride to kind of make this move and really try and open up both a sort of public conversation but also a legal conversation around the fact that everyone should have a place in community sport is so important," she said.
Trans people were a small proportion of the population so it became easy to say "a decision around this that is being called for by a significant portion of the population only affects a small number of people," she said.
"But the effect on that small number of people can be massive and thinking about that real-world impact and actually how people are feeling and experiencing these changes, I really want that to be the leading factor that goes into this discussion."
"Auckland Pride are really focusing on discussion around human rights and access to sport being a human right. I think that is crucial, but it as much needs to be a consideration of the real-world experiences of these people that we are talking about, because more often than not, there just aren't enough trans people to be our own advocates," Weatherly said.
The champion mountain biker said she was largely welcomed and supported by the community when coming out in 2015.
Weatherly said she was saddened that transgender people in sport would not be able to get the same opportunities in terms of personal growth, sense of community and social life.
"I always felt like I had a place and through that I was able to find confidence, friendship. I mean, my best friends I've met through mountain biking.
"Now I don't compete at all because of the complexity that comes with who I am and putting that burden on governing bodies and race organisations to try and manage that, not even in a competitive environment, but just even in a community environment," she said.
"I know from talking to young trans people, they're just not even going to play sports anymore, whether it's competitive or not.
"They're anxious, they're scared, they feel like they already weren't feeling welcome in those spaces, and now the decision to remove guidelines that ensure that people aren't bullying or harassing trans when they engage in community sport is just really distressing for a lot of people, and I honestly can't blame those people for not wanting to be in those spaces."
Weatherly said her message to the government was to put themselves in the shoes of transgender people wanting to participate in sport.
"How would you feel if your child came out as transgender and they're distressed, they're uncomfortable in their body, they are scared to tell people.
"Then they see that you as their parent are supporting legislation or rule changes that restrict their ability to live happily and have a good quality of life? How would that make them feel? How would you feel in that situation?"
She said everyone should be able to participate in their local rugby or football club, have fund with their friends and those experiences were an important part of New Zealand culture.
"I want everyone to be able to experience that together and really come together as a country and focus on what's actually important, which is our collective unity and not focusing on limiting the opportunities of a small group of people."
The mountain biker was involved with the development of Sport NZ's Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport.
"The focus on those was really not to be dictating whether or not people can compete at a professional level or what that should look like and how fairness plays out in that highest level of sport, but really making sure that if people want to engage in their community sporting environments, which are often not even gender segregated.
"It could be a local football club or a local rugby club who barely have enough players for any teams anyway, in those environments, ensuring that people can do that and providing tools and resources to those local clubs to ensure that they know how to have a conversation with their team and how to ensure that they're making people feel welcome into an environment."
Why were the guidelines scrapped?
In 2023, New Zealand First campaigned on making any publicly funded sporting body "that does not have an exclusive biological female category, where ordinarily appropriate" ineligible for public funding.
Announcing the review, former sport and recreation minister Chris Bishop said the principles did "not reflect legitimate community expectations that sport at a community level should not just be focused on diversity, inclusion, and equity, but also prioritise fairness and safety".
The completed review was handed over to Bishop's successor Mark Mitchell.
Rather than an update, the government told Sport NZ to stop all work on the guiding principles and remove them altogether.
In August, Mitchell said he took coalition commitments seriously and believed the best decision was made in the long run.
"I just don't think government should be meddling and getting into areas that... the sports themselves are best placed to know how to run their code in a safe and fair way."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
