PRISM: Human Rights issues relating to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) in Aotearoa New Zealand - A report with recommendations Takatāpui is an ancient Māori term meaning ‘intimate companion of the same sex’.12 As a result of colonisation, the word was lost from the language and oral tradition. In the early 1980s, it was rediscovered independently by takatāpui academics in manuscripts from the 1840s.13 Since then, the term has been reclaimed to encompass not just diverse sexual orientations amongst Māori, but also diverse gender identities, expressions, and sex characteristics. Māori identity predicates takatāpui identity “with a spiritual connection to takatāpui tūpuna (ancestors).”14 Despite reclamation of this identity, many takatāpui today experience dual stigma. On top of the systemic inequities of being Māori, they experience additional discrimination because of their diverse SOGIESC.15 Te Tiriti o Waitangi is New Zealand’s unique human rights document, signed on February 6, 1840 between the British Crown and several Māori rangatira (chiefs). It is regarded as the founding text of Aotearoa, assuring a tūrangawaewae (standing place to belong) for all people in New Zealand. It affirms the rights tangata whenua had prior to 1840 and gave tauiwi (non-Māori) and the Crown a set of rights and responsibilities that enabled them to settle in Aotearoa. These rights extend to takatāpui and other people with a diverse SOGIESC. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 8 The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) articulates how human rights apply in the specific context of Indigenous Peoples.16 It has been described as providing ‘a blueprint for implementation of Te Tiriti’. The Declaration affirms that “Indigenous Peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights”17 and is underpinned by core rights including selfdetermination, non-discrimination, cultural rights, rights to land and natural resources, and rights to participate in decision-making. While the Declaration does not explicitly reference Indigenous SOGIESC communities, UN bodies have provided guidance highlighting the need for diverse and/or vulnerable groups within indigenous communities to be represented and to have their special needs considered.18 Approaching issues from a Tiriti- and human rights-based perspective includes that Māori, as Tiriti-partners, are part of decision-making; Māori are able and supported to exercise rangatiratanga, self-determination, and to lead solutions; and that equity for Māori is a core focus. Elizabeth Kerekere Takatāpui: Part of the whāna (Tīwhanawhana Trust and Mental Health Foundation, Auckland, 2015). Elizabeth Kerekere “Part of the Whānau: The Emergence of Takatāpui Identity – He Whāriki Takatāpui” (PhD Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 2017). Ibid. Ibid. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples GA Res 61/295 (2007). Ibid, Art 1. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Free, prior and informed consent: a human rights-based approach – Study of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UN Doc A/HRC/39/62 (10 August 2018) at [20(c)].