New Zealand’s Georgina Beyer dies, aged 65

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s transgender MP who identified as Georgina Beyer has passed away at the age of 65. Beyer was declared dead at a Wellington hospice.

According to reports, as the first openly transgender MP in the New Zealand government, Beyer played a key role in ‘decriminalizing prostitution’ in the country.

After friends of the late MP shared the news on Facebook writing, “with the heaviest of hearts” Beyer passed away at a hospice in Wellington, former Prime Minister Helen Clark paid tribute to Beyer. The former PM said, Beyer “showed tremendous courage” by stepping into the limelight and warming the public up with “her honesty”.

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In a heartwarming tribute, a friend, Scotty Kennedy wrote, “Georgie was surround[ed] by her nearest and dearest 24/7 over the past week, she accepted what was happening, was cracking jokes and had a twinkle in her eye, right until the final moment”.

New Zealand's Georgina Beyer dies, aged 65 | Baaghi TV

Prior to entering into politics, Beyer had been an actor, drag performer, and radio host among other things. Born in Wellington, the late MP moved to Australia in later years. Moving back to New Zealand, Beyer entered her political career in 1995 after she won the mayoralty in Carterton, a town nearly 80 kilometers from Wellington.

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As an MP, Beyer played a vital role in the decriminalization of prostitution in the country. Speaking on the occasion, she said, “On the third reading of the Prostitution Reform Act, I got up and said, ‘I will assume Mr Speaker that I am the only person in this chamber who has ever worked in the sex industry’”. Beyer added that when no one raised their hands, she knew that in that moment they gave her “tacit approval” as an “expert on this thing in this chamber”.

Speaking about her past as a sex worker, Beyer once acknowledged that she had been “brutalised, exploited, and pack raped” and that she has endured the kind of things which “either kills you or it doesn’t”. Georgina Beyer was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2020, for her services to the LGBTQ community.

New Zealand's Georgina Beyer dies, aged 65 | Baaghi TV

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After the news of her passing broke, MP Kieran McAnulty remarked the country had “lost a great one”. McAnulty who was reportedly babysat by the late MP as a child expressed that she had been like family, a “loyal friend, passionate advocate for the LGBTIQA+ community and a powerhouse of a local politician”.

Prior to her death, Breyer was reportedly battling Kidney diseases believed to be inherited however, no clear cause of death has been confirmed.

Additionally, ruling PM Chris Hipkins offering condolences at the passing said that Beyer’s left a “lasting impression on the parliament”.

New Zealand's Georgina Beyer dies, aged 65 | Baaghi TV