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2020 “T” misses out
Surprise surprise we are overlooked again
GLBT advocates have slammed the apparent non-inclusion of trans
representatives in the 2020 Summit this weekend.The summit includes a number of people championing the cause of gay
and lesbian people in Australia, but trans interests appear to have
been sidelined, activists claimed.“It’s of … concern that no transgender person is involved, given the
severe disadvantage that they face in Australia,” Tasmanian Gay &
Lesbian Rights Group spokersperson Rodney Croome, told SX. “The
conference that is supposed to be about social inclusion is already
off to a bad start when there is a significant and deeply sidelined
minority that is excluded.”Independent trans activist from Brisbane, Linda Petrie told SX she had
nominated herself to take part in the summit but was rejected. “The
average attempted suicide rate of transgender citizens is 40 per cent,
largely because of the stressors of socially systemic ignorance,
prejudice, harassment and ostracisation we and transgender children
endure in Australian society,” she said.“How can any summit speak with confidence and ethicality to the
‘health’ issues of our country while it leaves these transgender men
and women, boys and girls behind, then talk about ‘social inclusion’
to refer to another of the Summit’s focuses?”Representatives from the NSW Gender Centre and lobby group Sex And
Gender Education (SAGE) said they had not nominated themselves as they
were unaware of this option being available to them.Sally Goldner, media spokersperson for Transgender Victoria, said,
“Not only are there no transgender people invited but also no people
who are huge champions of trans issues. It makes me wonder whether our
issues will be represented adequately, if at all. It’s not a surprise
because the issue [of trans exclusion] is systemic.”A spokesperson for the 2020 Summit told SX, “[Nominees] didn’t have to
disclose [if they were trans] and so that is something they could
include in their bios. So far none of the bios have indicated that
information, however we are still waiting on the remaining bios to
come in.” -
4 Replies
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Interesting observation Rhiannon and very valid. I sometimes wonder if a reason for the lack of acceptance is a visual thing. It is possible to announce pretty much anywhere these days that you are gay or a lesbian and though it may raise eyebrows it is not such a taboo (Iam not suggesting it is easy though). The sight of a gay couple hand in hand may also gain a second glance but for transgendered people it can become a sideshow, not everywhere but in most places. This may not be an issue for those girls that pass easily in public but when they are ‘made’ there is still that gawk factor.
Psychologists will tell you that most assumptions are made about a person in the first few seconds based on visual cues.Just a theory and I am open to being shot down.
Inclusion would have been nice i the summit but ultimately all the legislastion in the world won’t budge the most hardened biggots. Utopia will be when we achieve true acceptance.
PS first post hope it is ok
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Hi Crissy
Your pretty much spot on, from my own experience you usually find 60% of people do not give you a 2nd look it usually comes down to the way you carry yourself and confidence a smile can be very disarming. As to the future it is a real concern we are in danger of being left out unless we do something about it, as you say we are not the most visable in the community and we are definately the most misunderstood by gay and straight alike. This is my personnel belief, which is held by others, if we can get the focus off sex and on to gender this would create a united front, a growing body of research is showing that all gay and gender varient people are in a sense transgendered. eg if you take a straight line between gender male typical hetrosexual to gender female typical hetrosexual we would all find a place on the line in between. The area between is defined as transending gender norms of the typical bi nominal society standard, therefoe the theory says that all that fall into this area are transgendering. The benefit of defining a single area is that it will define a single voice, as history has shown what has benefited the GL community by changes in laws etc never goes far enough or excludes us completly we usually end up as the dropped bargining chip.
cheers
Rhi
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Hi Rhiannon
Interestingly that is yin/yang theory. It is not about opposites as most people mistakenly think but rather varying levels of one energy and it applies to many areas of life. We are definately not in the middle of the continuum like the rest of society. As you rightly state the focus needs to be on gender not sex and we are all too often seen as a sub-branch of the gay and lesbian movement. Until people understand that we are their brothers, fathers, friends, etc then we have no profile. Unfortunately true acceptance is rare in society for any marginalised group so all we can do is carry on and hopefully change peoples mind bit by bit. I personally will start by writing to relevant MP’s and at least see what type of replies are forthcoming. Oops off the soapbox Chrissy.
Good topic Rhiannon
Cheers
Chrissy 😮 -
I guess the thing is that for so many of us (me included) don’t actually stand up for ourselves and make a niche in society. Until that day we will always be categorised as weird horny, pervy men in dresses. We need to carve out our own niche and let more people know what and who we are. I fear all of this a lot but i guess i need to stand and be counted too. Gays had such a hard time but then so many were prominent in entertainment and the media that the view of the new society slowly changed. While there is still a huge anti gay sentiment the new generation – like my son – have no negative view on gays. They just exist and thats normal.
Strength comes from within us, noones views will change until we influence them. Now theres a challenge
Who can be the first tranny minister – okay except Julia Gillard
This is a great topic. Reminds me I’m lazy and need to do more
S
