#Shaneel Lal

[yourdailyqueer]

Shaneel Lal

Gender: Transgender non binary (they/them)

Sexuality: Queer

DOB: 22 January 2000  

Ethnicity: Native Fijian (iTaukei and Girmitiya)

Occupation: Activist, model, columnist

Note: They also identify as Vakasalewalewa and Hijra

[coochiequeens]

If Jenny Salesa thinks hiring a violent man is ok then I hope the women of New Zealand vote her out next time she's up for election.

By KATRINA BIGGS MAR 25, 2024

Today, March 25th, is the one-year anniversary of the worst mob violence ever seen against women in New Zealand. Today, I also heard that a Labour Member of Parliament has employed the man, Shaneel Lal, who was instrumental in whipping up that violence, as an executive assistant. Not only was he instrumental, he videoed himself on the day being jubilant about it.

Allegedly, that MP is the Hon. Jenny Salesa, the MP for Panmure-Ōtāhuhu in Auckland, and the spokesperson for Ethnic Communities, Customs. So far, I’ve only had hearsay that she’s the MP who has employed Lal, and phone calls to both her electorate and parliamentary offices to verify it were answered only by voicemail. However, she and Lal do go back a few years, when she selected him to be her youth MP at the age of 18. If it’s correct that Lal is indeed an executive assistant for Ms Salesa, it’s difficult to see how he can be an astute choice as an aide for the Spokesperson for Ethnic Communities, considering his background as a fervent anti-woman activist.  

But, Shaneel Lal has been continuously rewarded and lauded for his efforts for the ‘LGBTQIA+ community’. In reality, his efforts for the ‘LGBTQIA+ community’ boil down to making demands which mainly favour the TQ+ faction of the acronym. From what I understand, and it may have changed from the last time I read this, Lal identifies as ‘queer trans’, and uses they/them pronouns.

Any pushback against Lal’s efforts, like not wanting any man who says he’s a woman to have free and unfettered entry into all women’s and girls’ spaces and sports, he claims are “transphobia”. Shortly after his part in stirring up the violence against women in Albert Park, Auckland, on 25 March 2023, Lal got the ‘Young New Zealander of the Year’ award, whose main sponsor is Kiwibank. Now, he has a job as an executive assistant for an MP.  

It's incomprehensible how so many MPs, including women MPs, turn a blind eye to Lal’s appalling behaviour against women. Seemingly, they’re able to pretend it doesn’t exist. My own engagement with MPs and councillors, though, has demonstrated that it may not be an uncommon practice for some to ignore all those things which could interfere with the implementation of a pet project, or appointment.

It's incomprehensible how so many MPs, including women MPs, turn a blind eye to Lal’s appalling behaviour against women. Seemingly, they’re able to pretend it doesn’t exist. My own engagement with MPs and councillors, though, has demonstrated that it may not be an uncommon practice for some to ignore all those things which could interfere with the implementation of a pet project, or appointment.

Besides being employed as an executive assistant for an MP, Lal is also said to be employed by Labour as a policy researcher. That is a much bigger worry, in my opinion, even without Labour currently being in government. I would put money on it that he will be researching ways to take the word ‘sex’ out of any policy (or piece of legislation, as well, perhaps) he possibly can, and replacing it with the word ‘gender’. The word ‘gender’ may have been used narrowly once as a polite euphemism for ‘sex’, but there’s no limit to how it can be used now. It’s wide open to be interpreted any way a person chooses. Potentially, any man with a self-described gender-identity of any sort, that has no male words in it, gets a free pass into all women’s and girls’ spaces if he so desires.

It's hard for me to imagine a bigger insult to women from Labour than to employ the man who was instrumental in whipping up the worst mob violence against women ever seen in New Zealand, and which shocked much of the world. Unless they’re well-behaved fawners, Lal is no friend to women. Women who don’t fawn are also entitled to sex-based rights, and no one should be giving them away on us – so why are MPs not only doing that, but employing a man who will revel in doing it?

In the event that we need reminding, after the aborted Let Women Speak rally, Labour’s leader, Chris Hipkins, said he would have been proud to support the protest against Posie Parker (Kellie-Jay Keen). He may have found it politic to change his stance a bit since then, but when Labour then goes and employs a man like Lal, it makes me very nervous.

Labour leader, Chris Hipkins, verifies that Shaneel Lal is employed as an executive assistant by a Labour MP (see the last three minutes of the video)

[runalongprincevaliant]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shaneel Lal (@shaneellall)

Repost: @shaneellall

Please go to instagram and read the caption on Shaneel Lal’s post. He sums this video up very well. A white woman acting like a victim so she can be racist and awful.

[mariluphoto]

Beyoncé x Gaza

Despite the the gen0cidal violence in Gaza — Beyoncé continues to show her new film, "The Renaissance", in Israeli theaters.

(via. khaledbeydoun)

I also have to add, writer Shaneel Lal's, comment; Very on point.

The thing about Beyoncé 's fans is that they're all talk. Next to all of her fans who said they would boycott companies have been watching her movie and posting about it. If you can take a break from opposing gen0cide, you were never truly against gen0cide. I've been embarrassed by how the western world can't even consistently do the bare minimum. It is the very least we can do - to not spend our money gen0cidal causes - and we still can't do it. How shameful.

[nando161mando]

"TERFs broke into my home after two weeks of attempting to disrupt my book, One of Them’s sales.

How TERFs went from Conceal Shaneel to let’s break into Shaneel’s home is lost on me. TERFs will not stop until they erase all queer and trans people."

[the-quiet-fire-of-defiance]

Day 7 Tolkien Colour Week (Intersectionality): Caranthir

I would have loved to spend more time on this, but I’ve had the week from hell and just wanted to post something before @tolkienofcolourweek​ finishes. This Caranthir is nb and uses he/him pronouns. He has a condition called Sturge-Weber syndrome which caused a port wine stain birthmark, problems with his right eye, seizures, learning disability and left-sided weakness. Because of this, he sometimes uses a walker. The weakness in his left hand somewhat limits what he can do with it, as he doesn’t have much grip strength. When Maedhros lost his hand, Caranthir was able to use his own experiences to help Maedhros learn how to do basic tasks again.

I partially traced this off of a photo of Shaneel Lal, a Fijian-Indian + iTaukei New Zealander and leading queer rights activist.

[airyairyaucontraire]

While this doesn’t cover everything I would like it to (the qualification about “serious” harm if the victim is over 18 seems like a cop-out and I would prefer that it was simply banned regardless of age or degree of harm), it’s a big step in the right direction and I am glad to see it.

Also they accomplished this with a pack of Qanon-addled antivaxx sovereign citizen lunatics camped out on parliament’s lawn calling for their arrest and execution.

[violetsandshrikes]

In 2021, conversion therapy still has not been banned in Aotearoa New Zealand

It is the beginning of the 4th year since the petition to ban Conversion Therapy was accepted at the steps of Parliament and the bill to ban Conversion Therapy was put into the member’s ballot.

The Labour Party (who is currently in parliament in Aotearoa) campaigned on banning Conversion Therapy. They need 61 votes to ban CT. They have 65 votes. The Green Party and Māori Party support a ban on Conversion Therapy. That brings it to 77 votes in favour of banning Conversion Therapy. 72% of New Zealanders want to see Conversion Therapy banned.

There is nothing other than political reluctance stopping a ban.

If you would like to play a part in supporting the ban of a barbaric practice in New Zealand that has ruined lives, I am asking you to send a letter to the Minister of Justice. Follow these steps:

Copy the letter template that is found here

Make multiple edits to avoid our emails being marked as spam (overseas friends, please feel free to tie back to efforts and issues in your own country around CT)

Use “Ban Conversion Therapy,” or any other subject you want

Send the email to Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi at k.faafoi@ministers.govt.nz

Further information can be found by either following Shaneel Lal or End Conversion Therapy NZ

[agnesfaagutu]

Being able to vote is a privilege!

The point of view expressed in this media text aligns with my own personal views. We cannot escape Politics. Whether we are actively participating citizens or not, we will be affected by the government's political decisions.

In the 2020 general election and referendum for New Zealand, there were 351,271people enrolled between the ages of 18 – 24. Of that number 77,195 did not vote. That is 21.98% of the total amount of people enrolled that chose not to participate in the general election. One of the most common reasons for non-participation is the lack of trust in politicians which can be brought upon by social media. At first social media was primarily used as a messaging application. Over the years we have seen social media move to become a more informative platform. According to a report completed by the Classification office, 79% of New Zealanders get their news or information from social media. With so much information readily available, it is difficult to trust what we see online. The information is not always accurate. According to a report completed by the Law Foundation of New Zealand, political misinformation has a serious impact on democratic participation and engagement. Politicians have stated that social media is ‘hurting democracy’ Technology has advanced so much that the algorithm is processing what we engage with online. Who we follow, what we like or don’t like, and what we view. The algorithm then filters our feed in favour of what we want to see. This can have a biased effect as it only reinforces our personal views and opinions rather than challenging them. It makes you think about being more aware of what we engage with online. Social media may have its disadvantages but I have found that social media has helped me learn more about what exactly politics is. Usually, I would not do any research on current political parties and candidates, until the information brochure with the orange man arrives in my mailbox. For most young adults like myself, this is the extent of my political knowledge, until recently when I started following New Zealand Herald columnist Shaneel Lal and Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick on Instagram. Through these two accounts, I have come to learn more about what each party stands for and I can keep up to date with current parliamentary news. Although it seems like there is a declining interest in Politics and political participation I believe this new wave of young journalists and politicians will turn that around.

The government makes decisions that directly impact the way we live. That includes the environment around us, access to healthcare, our jobs, and our wages. Literally everything. Politics can affect your student loan so if you are a student then that is even more reason to increase your political participation. It baffles me when I encounter someone who has zero interest in the voting system. It surprises me, even more, to know that they are New Zealand-born citizens. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Vatican City do not offer women the right to vote. So as a female living in New Zealand, I see it as a privilege to be able to vote in a general election and I would not forfeit that right. Having a say in local elections is the best way for citizens to get involved in the day-to-day running of our lives. The local council make decisions that directly impact our lives. If there are concerns about road safety or queries about the rates you pay, the local council are the best people to advocate for us. They act as a bridge between the local electorates and the political parties. If we want to see action, we need to show support by exercising our rights as citizens and having a say in local and general elections. In my opinion, the New Zealand democratic system is fair and just. If you are unhappy with the current political party in parliament you can vote for your preferred party. We have the freedom to choose who our vote goes to. Our votes reflect what we value as an individual and our self-interests. Certain parties may have similar interests as you do. Being educated about those parties and what they stand for is vital to our decision-making.

Whether we like Politics or not, as citizens we need to pay more attention to those in parliament as it will directly affect how we live.

Agnes Fa'agutu

[indigo--montoya]

[ID: a tweet from Shaneel Lal (They/Them) reading "Repost if you are against racism," "repost if you're against r*pe," "repost if you are against transphobia," or I'll unfollow you. Stop. Reducing real and triggering issues down to Instagram chainmail trends trivialises the issue without doing anything to solve it. End ID.]

[hivaidsupdates]

It is time for New Zealand to end gay conversion practices | Shaneel Lal #LGBT #LGBTRights #EqualityForAll https://t.co/p07tmD1jc8 via @guardian

— HIV & AIDS Updates U=U (@HIVAIDSupdates) Sep 6, 2021

from Twitter https://twitter.com/HIVAIDSupdates September 06, 2021 at 07:00AM

[tallshipandstar]

i watched Pray Away and am working on a submission for the Conversion Practices Prohibition bill and I think I still have yet to fully understand how much queerphobic shit was poured into my ears during the years I spent trying to be a Christian.

(Kiwis! If you want to make a submission Shaneel Lal has templates and instructions for queer people, allies and parents here. The TERFs are all making submissions and you know National and ACT will do everything they can to support religious and transphobic groups over the rainbow community.)