Green MP Benjamin Doyle says attacks against them ‘baseless, personal, and violent’
Under-pressure Green MP Benjamin Doyle says they have faced such graphic and disturbing threats to their life that they have been advised not to leave their house or appear in public.
Doyle, speaking for the first time following the furor around their social media posts, also said the Green Party asked them to delete their “biblebeltbussy” Instagram account but they choose not to because they wanted to bring their authentic self to Parliament.
They confirmed they would stay on as an MP despite facing death threats and attacks. They also said their child had been subject to death threats.
“I knew, coming to Parliament, that I would face prejudice and homophobia. I knew that people would not like the way I dress, or speak, or the causes that I advocate for. I knew that I would be under scrutiny, as is appropriate for every single person that has the privilege of this position. But I could never imagine or prepare myself to be attacked in such a baseless, personal, and violent way. That my life and that of my child would be threatened,” they said.
Parliamentary security said it had been working closely with police over the threats, which came after figures, including Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, shared posts that Doyle ‒ who uses they/them pronouns ‒ made on an Instagram. Peters raised the prospect of a police investigation over the posts, some of which featured Doyle’s child, while Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick called for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to step in and censure Peters.
Doyle described the response from Peters and others as a symptom of “poisonous transphobic hate and imported culture wars”.
“I am here to bring my full self into Parliament and to represent my communities in the most authentic way possible. This is why when I was advised by the party to delete the page before coming to Parliament, I chose not to,” they said. “I can admit that I was politically naive, and we have paid a huge price for this naivety. None of this means I deserved the barrage of abuse and vitriol I have experienced.
“I have been fielding a significant number of threats to my life and the safety of my child and family, some of which have been so graphic and disturbing that I had been advised not to leave my house, or appear in public, due to real concerns for my security.
“These attacks I’ve faced have been baseless and cruel. Queer people are not a danger to children. This is an outdated and homophobic lie.
“I have been targeted due to both my identity as a queer and non-binary parent and my public platform as an outspoken member of parliament. In particular, images of my child from my private Instagram account have been taken without permission, removed from their original context, and shared online in misleading and manipulative ways.
“Context is key and something that has been deliberately ignored and twisted by some incredibly bad faith actors looking for an excuse to punch down on someone who represents something they don’t agree with.
“The post at the centre of these baseless attacks includes 10 images from a range of activities and moments in my life, with a pop culture pun in the caption. ‘Bussy galore’ is an in-joke and a nickname. The translation here is “me at large living my best life”.
“Referring to myself in this way on my Instagram is an expression of my queer identity, and it acts as a persona, much like a drag performer or comedian might use. The caption – which references me – is an example of the way marginalised communities often reclaim or subvert language in order to exist unapologetically.
“I recognise that Bussy is not a term all rainbow people use or like, but it is one that is commonly understood and appreciated by my friends and community. For me, this term is wordplay, and represents the combination of my masculine and feminine qualities as a non-binary person – someone whose gender doesn’t fit into a strict category. It’s also a satirical in-joke with references to pop music, drag culture, Bond novels and 1960s cinema, made about myself with people who know me in mind.
“The vast majority of New Zealanders will not tolerate violent and malicious rhetoric in our country. They will not accept toxic conspiracies which attempt to bully and threaten queer people out of public life.
“I refuse to be disappeared by hate.
“We have a choice, as members of Parliament, to reject this imported culture war of hate and division. We can and must do better than this, because that is what the people of Aotearoa deserve.”
I told you this was a disgraceful Lynch mob against Benjamin.
I told you this was hysteria and madness whipped up by alt-Right Trolls internet sleuthing!
You all accused a father of the most terrible crime with no fucking evidence whatsoever???
Who are we becoming to be this hateful towards one another?
I am taking the time to respond to you because I enjoy your insights and believe you have an amazing heart.
Ben certainly does advocate for choice when it comes to puberty blockers. I understand Ben’s argument and I appreciate its value and there are certainly valid points made in their argument. I however am bound by the science and the Cass Review forces us to step back and ask serious and significant questions alongside safeguards to ensure an individuals right to be who they are is sacrosanct.
While I may disagree with Ben to degrees and while my disagreement with identity dogma will have me strung up by the woke and tortured, I stand by the need for safeguards rather than puberty blockers on demand, based on the evidence from the Cass Review.
My disagreement with Ben by degrees (which will see me burnt at the stake for woke heresy) aside – YOU CAN NOT POINT TO THEIR SUPPORT OF PUBERTY BLOCKERS TO INSINUATE THAT THEY DESERVED TO BE DEFAMED IN THE MOST APPALLING MANNER WITH NO FUCKING EVIDENCE is the same thing Comrade.
You just can’t.
Benjamin represents their community and I support them in that representation EVEN THOUGH I disagree with them on some elements EVEN THOUGH the woke did themselves no favours when they had the cultural power in 2016 and misused it and alienated the rest of the Left – EVEN THOUGH ALL THAT – Ben in no way shape or form deserved the Tsunami of death threats against them AND THEIR CHILD FFS based on the Internet sleuthing of alt-Right Trolls with zero fucking evidence whatsofuckingever!
Have we fallen so far Comrade that we hope the person who angers us is the worst enemy we can imagine?
There were a billion other reasons for bussy, the spiral, the captions, but so many wanted Ben to be the monster they wanted to hate.
I stand with Benjamin Comrade, not because I agree 1000% with what they have to say, but because they are an innocent human being accused of the worst crime with fuck all evidence.
I will stand against the Lynch mob Comrade.
Always.
I have always enjoyed your posts and the beauty you bring to the world with your words – I would miss that if you were to sever contact with me because I believe in your heart of hearts that you would stand against the lunch mob too.
In solidarity ✊
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Thank you. But did you know the CASS Report has been largely discredited?
https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/integrity-project_cass-response.pdf
What the media pundits and codgers like Winston overlook is the changing social make up from majority boomer to new gen’s.
A lot don’t give diddly about “bussy” and suchlike. But, there are enough young or old dark kiwis, that do which is what the dirty politics practitioners are counting on.
Threats of violence in political debate are unacceptable and people threatening people’s lives should be visited by the cops.
I hope Ben and their family remain safe.
However I say this as a gay man myself , Ben should never have been a candidate, when they refused to delete the social media posts the Greens shouldn’t have allowed them to be a candidate.
It’s horrible for Ben but worse for the Greens, their caucus has been the biggest circus this term and they are so captured by idpol they don’t even understand how mainstream voters think.
This is disgusting but for Ben and the Green party to label this as homophobic is wild, Ben is a heterosexual biological male who identifies as non binary in a relationship with a biological woman.
Ben is not gay.
As for the bussy stuff the reaction from left leaning LGBT people certainly i speak to who aren’t in the beltway or green members, is that it’s cringe and yes it is weird for a teacher to have it on a social media account.
none of that justifies violence, ever I feel bad for Ben but angry at the Green party for not forseeing this shit.
The Green party caucus since 2022 have been a fantastic against argument MMP.
The minor parties behavior in the last 3 years has turned me from being pro proportional to pro STV.
It reminds me of the Catholic Church’s response to paedophiles in their midst. Just saying
Winston, is a flat line wind mill, with a telly taxpaid tele tosser, deputy, eh whit leader, yes, he leeds, is that a football team on the tv, i was looking, for a programme, that our tax paid money could toss off.
Yes damaged the party along with quite a few others in the last 18 months. The party asks him to remove his private posts and he opts not to. Oh for Gods sake…
Their petition to easier access to puberty blockers is probably the first petition of theirs I have not signed.
I do not support the dishing out (and this is certainly what was happening in Otautahi as we have that good woman, and yes she is good, Sue Bagshaw with her husband set up the charity hospital) who is a huge fan of them.
I think they arre dangerous, and frankly every kid who thinks they need these should have very regular counselling and lots of support. I think one day that lots of organisations/people are likely to be sued because they encouraged…. kids to go down this track.
I remember back in the early 2000s discovering that Tauranga had a much higher rate of dishing out shock treatment than anywhere else in the country. This sort of thing needs to be investigated when it is as obvious as that. Why Why Why?
I don’t think the sort of people who participate in such lynch mobs are capable of feeling shame, unfortunately.
If Winston inferred that Benjamn had somehow acted illegally which could require a Police investigation, then why did Winston not himself contact the Police? Can the Greens sue Winston for this apparent defamation? Winston had a go at bullying Ricardo and now it’s Benjamin. Maybe Winston should be made to explain his insinuations, from the witness box under oath, so his prejudices can be laid bare for all to see. Instead of wistleblowing to his proud boys supporters, and insighting death threats, at a time when parliament is considering better protection for politicians. You can’t expect spineless Luxon to be stepping in.
This is imported culture war hate tactics and overseas media influence coming here now.
The world is burning and going to hell in a hand basket .But our so called leaders are more worried about destroying some ones life because they are different to them selves .
When people realize its not our business how others wish to live then the world might be saved .Dont hold out much hope .
Darleen Tana was a Green Party list Member of Parliament who the Green Party hierarchy decided was not fit to remain a Member of Parliament. Tana disputed that, claiming that she was fit, that she retained support among the voting public, and that her presence on the Green Party list had attracted votes to the party.
Whether one is fit to be a member of parliament on the grounds of character or conduct is a matter of opinion, and in a democracy the opinion of the voters would be decisive. In a parliament of 120 members representing 3 million voters anyone who has the backing of 25,000 voters could claim the right sit in the House as the representative of those voters.
However in the New Zealand system no one has a clue as to how much support an individual list Member of Parliament might have, either at the time of the election or at any time during their term in office. Therefore Tana was unable to prove that she had sufficient support to justify remaining in parliament and on the other hand no one else was able to prove that she did not. As it happens that was immaterial because in the New Zealand system it is the party hierarchy and not the voters who ultimately get to decide who shall sit in Parliament.
So Darleen Tana was ejected from Parliament, and the next person on the Green Party list, Benjamin Doyle, took her place.
Almost immediately the leader of another party, Winston Peters, suggested that on the basis of character and conduct Doyle was not a fit person to be a Member of Parliament. Doyle insists that he is a fit person and the Green Party hierarchy agrees that with him. Again the test of character is entirely subjective, and the only people properly qualified to make it would be the voters themselves. Not Benjamin Doyle or the Green Party hierarchy and certainly not Winston Peters (whose own moral character happens to be severely compromised to put it lightly).
Yet, once again, there is no reliable way of determining how the voters themselves feel about Benjamin Doyle, either before or after the recent revelations. Doyle claims the support of a community of like-minded others, but has no way of showing whether 25,000 voters would choose him ahead of any other candidate. He should be able to do that. In a democracy he would be able to do that. But he cannot, because the Realm of New Zealand fails the most fundamental tests of democracy.
Some critics are saying that the Tana and Doyle affairs show the weakness of the Green Party candidate selection process. It may or may not be the case that there is “something wrong” with Green Party processes, but this claim distracts attention from the fundamental problem, which is not to do with the Green Party (the selection processes of all other parties are equally open to criticism) but with the patently undemocratic workings of the New Zealand electoral system which is designed to frustrate the right of voters to actually choose their own representatives.
Ironically, situations like the Tana and Doyle affairs end up damaging those who profit from New Zealand’s anti-democratic constitution. The public will question the judgement of the Green Party, Winston Peters will have to re-learn an elementary rule of politics that those who throw mud end up with dirty hands and Parliament itself has been brought into further disrepute.
The answer is simple. The open ballot, continuous election and self-determining constituencies will restore both power and responsibility to the people. They can then make and amend their own judgements as to who is fit to represent them, and frankly it will be no one else’s business.
Whilst I am by no means a Christian there is that so true quote from Jesus who said “He who is Without Sin to Cast the First Stone…” This was when so-called righteous males wanted to stone a woman to death because they deemed her a prostitute.
Unfortunately within politics(the true theatre of Hypocrisy and sin when all things considered)there is that delusion that politicians just cannot commit any sinful ACTS let alone anyone associated with politicians albeit even Party Presidents and Hanger-on-ers.
It is hypocritical that a country that even was the first country in the world to allow Women the right to vote there is still that Misogynistic Draconian and Revoltingly Archaic attitude by the mostly Male Hypocrites in Politics that a Person cannot be Whom He or She Wants to be. We are now in a Diverse society and therefore need to Move with the Times.
I have absolutely neither the time, patience nor liking of Winston Peters because for too many decades whilst he has been a Troughing MP at NZ taxpayers expense he has made a series of allegations that have shown him up as a Trouble-some sort of person who is more interested in Attention for Himself with Little, Scant or No Caring as to the Outcome of HIS Actions.
He is Hardly One to Proclaim to be Holier than Thou looking at his Track Record in not so pleasant ways in politics since the 90s especially.
We all make mistakes in our lives and many of us regret the direction and our actions have taken us.
In regards to Winston Peters and His Perfection Illusion May the Stone therefore be Cast Upon Him.
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