Peter James Steven

I've just added three new ways of visualising detransition journeys to detrans.ai/stories. The first graph visualises transition duration on a scatter plot, highlighting the differences between male and female detransitioners. It shows that males who detransition tend to start and end their journey later than females, but detransition sooner (4 year average duration) While females who detransition tend to start younger and transition for longer (5.3 years average duration). This data has been extracted from 2709 unique detransition stories and timelines of people who have shared their experiences in the /r/detrans subreddit, which is the largest open collection of detransition stories and experiences on the internet.

Fleur Fitzsimons has used her position as PSA National Secretary to send an email to their 95,000 members to urge them to oppose the Definitions Bill. Similarly, Grant Robertson has sent an email out to Otago University students. This is what we are up against. When I talk about institutional influence and power it is this kind of thing. Activists embedded in positions of power and not ashamed to abuse their power.

@girlkellykelly Thank you!

@pjamessteven Thank you so much for sharing this incredible and well thought out submission. Great motivation. My mother and I have both made submissions tonight using yours as a template. I will gently ask a few friends if they want to submit and if so, will pass on your IP. Thank you.

New Zealanders! Submissions are open for the Definitions of Woman and Man bill: www3.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-… Here's my submission, feel free to copy or modify it: I support this bill because clear legal definitions of "woman," "man," "male," and "female" are necessary for coherent law and public policy. Sex is real. Sex is not assigned at birth; it is observed. It is not altered by declaration, medication, or surgery. It is distinct from people's personal beliefs about gender roles, stereotypes and identities. Everyone deserves schools, health services, and sporting bodies that honor and tell them the truth: you cannot change your sex. Legal certainty on this point protects sex-based rights, ensures consistent application of law, and grounds public discourse in material reality rather than contested belief systems. However, I submit that the Bill as currently drafted is fragile and, if enacted in its present form, will create as many problems as it solves. I urge the Committee to adopt the following amendments. Without them, the Bill risks being struck down, misinterpreted, or rendered ineffective. 1. Fix the circular definitions The Bill defines "woman" as "adult human biological female" and "female" as "human biological female." This is circular: "female" is never actually defined. Circular definitions are vulnerable to judicial review and will invite courts to read in their own meanings, undermining the Bill's purpose. Recommendation: Replace the circular definitions with substantive biological definitions grounded in observable anatomy and physiology: •"Female" means the sex characterised by reproductive anatomy and physiology oriented toward the production of ova. •"Male" means the sex characterised by reproductive anatomy and physiology oriented toward the production of sperm. These definitions do not require an individual to produce gametes. A prepubescent girl, a post-menopausal woman, and a woman after hysterectomy remain female because her reproductive system is organised around the production of ova, even if that function is not currently active or is no longer possible. Similarly, disorders of sexual development are variations in the development of reproductive anatomy within one of the two sexes; they do not create additional sexes, because no DSD produces a third gamete type or a reproductive system oriented toward a third gamete. This approach is consistent with the UK Supreme Court's reasoning in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, which affirmed that "sex" in equality law refers to biological sex. It also aligns with the way New Zealand law already operates: the Human Rights Act 1993 contains exceptions for single-sex sport, services, and facilities based on biological sex. The Bill does not introduce a new concept, but codifies the biological reality that already underpins those exceptions. 2. Define "girl" and "boy" to avoid unintended consequences and protect existing legislation The inclusion of "adult" in the definition of "woman" and "man" creates a serious drafting error. This would exclude non-adults from services and protections currently afforded to "women" in existing legislation. For example, the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act authorises procedures for a pregnant "woman," which would no longer apply to a pregnant 16-year-old under this Bill as currently drafted. Simply removing "adult" would blur a useful legal distinction. The better approach is to define the juvenile counterparts explicitly and protect existing statutes from being narrowed unintentionally. Recommendation: Add definitions for "girl" and "boy" and include a savings provision for pre-existing legislation: 3. Address the conflict with section 16 of the Legislation Act 2019 Section 16 of the Legislation Act 2019 currently states that "words denoting a gender include every other gender." If sections 13A and 13B are inserted without addressing this provision, courts will face a direct conflict between a definition that fixes biological sex and an existing interpretive rule that mandates gender inclusivity. Recommendation: Add a provision to the Bill explicitly stating that sections 13A and 13B override section 16 of the Legislation Act 2019 for the purposes of interpreting "woman," "man," "female," and "male." 4. Ensure there is a way to correct documents The Bill defines sex but says nothing about correcting official documents where sex was previously recorded incorrectly under the self-identification process and the person now wishes to change it back to reflect biological sex. Recommendation: Add a new section 13D for the correction of documents. This is particularly necessary given that the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021 allows unlimited changes of sex marker by statutory declaration, but provides no equivalent pathway for a person to revert to their biological sex if they later determine that the recorded sex is inaccurate. 5. Explicitly protect gender non-conformity and self-expression Defining sex in law does not mean forcing people to conform to stereotypes, however a significant portion of the population understand the words "woman," "man," "male," and "female" to refer to social roles and stereotypes. The bill's silence on this leaves room for misinterpretation. Recommendation: Add an explicit non-deregation clause that nothing in the Act restricts how people dress, present themselves, or identify in terms of personal expression. 6. Address disorders of sexual development (DSDs) The Bill does not mention how it interacts with existing provisions for people with DSDs. While DSDs are developmental variations within the two sexes, individuals may have specific medical and legal needs. Most DSDs do not result in sex ambiguity; a minority can result in a mismatch of chromosomes and gonads or ambiguous external genitalia, where a person's sex can still be determined through objective markers. Recommendation: Add a provision clarifying that the Act does not affect existing legislative provisions for the medical treatment or accommodation of people with DSDs. 7. Do not undermine existing single-sex protections New Zealand law already contains exceptions in the Human Rights Act 1993 that permit single-sex services, facilities, and sporting categories where biological sex is relevant. The Bill should be framed not as creating new exclusions, but as clarifying the language within which those existing exclusions already operate. If the Bill is presented as solving a problem that NZ law already addresses, it risks being dismissed as unnecessary. The real problem is not the absence of single-sex rights, but the erosion of the language needed to articulate them. ____________________________________________________ Suggested revised wording: 13A Meaning of woman, female, or girl In any legislation, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) woman means an adult human biological female; and (b) female means the sex characterised by reproductive anatomy and physiology oriented toward the production of ova; and (c) girl means a human biological female who has not attained the age of 18 years. 13B Meaning of man, male, or boy In any legislation, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) man means an adult human biological male; and (b) male means the sex characterised by reproductive anatomy and physiology oriented toward the production of sperm; and (c) boy means a human biological male who has not attained the age of 18 years. 13C Interpretation of "woman" and "man" in existing legislation In any legislation enacted before the commencement of this section, the words "woman" and "man" shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be read as referring to human biological females and human biological males respectively, regardless of age. 13D Relationship with section 16 For the purposes of interpreting the words "woman," "man," "female," "male," "girl," and "boy," sections 13A and 13B prevail over section 16 of this Act. 13E Correction of documents (1) Any person may apply to the Registrar-General or other relevant authority to correct the sex recorded on any official document to reflect the person's biological sex as defined in this Act. (2) Such correction shall be made upon production of satisfactory evidence and without requirement for surgical or hormonal intervention. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), satisfactory evidence means: (a) the person's original birth record held by the Registrar-General under the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021; or (b) where the original birth record is unavailable or does not record the person's biological sex, a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, or other medical documentation, confirming the person's biological sex. 13F Non-derogation Nothing in this Act affects the right to freedom of expression affirmed by section 14 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, including the freedom to express one's identity or personal characteristics through appearance, dress, or behaviour, regardless of sex. 13G Disorders of sexual development Nothing in this Act affects any existing legislative provision for the medical treatment or accommodation of persons with disorders of sexual development.

@Gaynotqueer1 Reminds me far too much of someone I know

The man beneath the helmet.

@reddit_lies You missed the worst thing about this post - the mod comment saying that any negative comments about phalloplasty will get you banned.

"Oh no I'm being maligned like men are all the time." This should be gender affirming.

As Ani says below, we can’t focus on any of the fights & struggles that women still face if we can’t clearly define what a woman is. And for all those politicians who pretend that it’s impossible to do so, we see you. And given you can’t be honest about this basic fact, we can’t trust anything else you say.

@Will428304 @ColJamesLittD @russellcrowe Yeah I met a guy who does this when I visited LA earlier this year

@ColJamesLittD @russellcrowe I didn’t see him do anything other than manage a situation where everyone could be pleased. And most of these vultures aren’t even fans. They’re just collectors trying to sell shit on EBay.

This is my problem with the social media and click bait culture: @russellcrowe settled a paparazzi fan mob frenzy and then proceeded to sign every autograph and take every selfie. If you read anything else, it’s false.

Incredible

@SwipeWright x.com/reddit_lies/st…

Hasan Piker's subreddit moderators are removing posts that link to my scholarly article "Why There Are Exactly Two Sexes" in threads discussing whether trans people can actually change their sex. I know the deleted post contained a link to my article because Altmetric had already catalogued it, and the link takes me to the deleted comment.

@LeonaAngelaVII ummm maybe you should check out reddit.com/r/askAGP/

Gender-critical activists try to make you feel unworthy by slandering and gaslighting the most vulnerable part of you: your sexuality. They use Blanchard ideology as religious dogma, a pseudoscience rejected by the psychology and healthcare professions. Your attraction patterns, whether trans or not, are yours to define. Your sexuality is sacred. Your orientation (whether gay, straight, or bisexual) and dysphoria are entirely separate. Who you’re attracted to does not dictate why you transitioned. The biggest lie of 2025 was the propaganda that AGP exists. It doesn’t. Autosexuality is an oxymoron because you cannot be attracted to yourself. The accusation that some MTFs only transition because they get aroused at the thought of themselves as women is complete nonsense. Some people have sexual problems, which are entirely separate. Straight and same-sex attracted men and women have sexual addictions; whether a person is trans is irrelevant. GCs weaponize your sexuality against you and claim that you transitioned to fulfill a paraphilia, which is diabolical psychological and sexual abuse.

@DaomiLove @joss_prior chatGPT

@joss_prior That's a nice infographic, did you make it?

The UK history of trans rights.

If we removed all current Reddit moderators all at once and replaced them with a poorly trained LLM, it would be a net boon for the world.

@WomenReadWomen @KatHighsmith Accurate

@KatHighsmith Gender dysphoria uses victims of sexual abuse to provide cover for sexual abusers.

"Gender dysphoria" is a term that hides male sexual fetishes by grouping them together with the body dysmorphia experienced by girls and women, many of whom survived sexual abuse

@Blaise_Corvin @TomValentinoo Right. I just looked and I couldn't find one either. Just assumed that OP wasn't talking shit.

@pjamessteven @TomValentinoo I didn't even say it's not true. I used to keep tarantulas. But this: "What’s even crazier is that studies suggest they can recognize their owner’s face and become attached to them." We need to start pushing back on this nebulous "studies" stuff when they don't exist.

Not all spiders are scary. Some are actually cute and can be kept as pets, like jumping spiders, especially Lucas the Spider 🕷️ What’s even crazier is that studies suggest they can recognize their owner’s face and become attached to them.

@Blaise_Corvin @TomValentinoo Nah I believe it. I had a spider that lived in my room that would always come and chill with me when I was using my computer at my desk. It would just sit on the wall watching me. It went on for months.

@TomValentinoo "What’s even crazier is that studies suggest they can recognize their owner’s face and become attached to them." No. They're still cool, but let's stop the cap.

"How do I convince my family, who lived under Stalin, that the internet tells me communism is good?"

@ReggieGrande @DefiantLs because that would actually be fascism

@DefiantLs Why arent they chomos being rounded up and put in prison camps?

Nobody, absolutely nobody: Protesters:

Today I resigned from @AmnestyUK after 40years. As a women's rights specialist I could no longer condone their failure to balance women's rights with trans rights @SexMattersOrg @Transgendertrd @FrancesShipsey @amnestynews @chiaracapraro @AllianceLGB @WRNBarnet @ruthdraper17

@No_ideology_MTF @AshelynnAlchemy Jog on mate

@pjamessteven @AshelynnAlchemy That is such a stupid terfy brain thing to say. Time waster

I shared my submission for the Definitions of Man and Woman bill on Facebook, and I've got a few people telling me that I'm very unkind. On kindness, I honestly think the kindest thing to do is to tell and speak the truth. And the truth is that humans can't change sex and that there's no right or wrong way to be a man, woman, boy or girl. The truth is also that some people also really do want to transition for whatever reason, and might benefit from it. They shouldn't be stopped from doing what they want, but they deserve to hear both sides of the story. They deserve to know that some people regret it, that some of the changes are permanent, that there are other ways to address distress, and that they should approach transition ethically (grounded in reality) without infringing on other people's rights. They also deserve to live in a world where changing their mind later isn't treated as a moral failing. Kindness is truth without coercion and support without false promises.

@No_ideology_MTF @AshelynnAlchemy I don't think that your personal convenience should override womens right to single sex spaces and sports

@pjamessteven @AshelynnAlchemy Well it makes it impossible for them to out me & i can travel safely thru certain countries . Your health check points are statistically mute

@SilentSkyZero @AshelynnAlchemy Transwomen and transmen still need prostate checks and pap smears. How does falsifying their sex legally help them in any way apart from giving them a hit of validation. Sex is real and immutable and not acknowledging that is harmful in many ways.

@pjamessteven @AshelynnAlchemy This isn't true, often times males lose their Y chromosome. XY women have given birth...