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Are we there yet ? ( One year and 9 months later )
“I read the news today Oh Boy” Barry Humphries clearly has a problem with acceptance of Transgender people and his name is no longer identified with an award for comedy in Australia He apparently regards being Transgender as a Fashion Statement.
I say this is a ghastly attitude , awful, horribly insulting and ill never watch him again!! And !! I applaud those who removed his name .However it clearly indicates that males who dress for stage performance reasons as female cant necessarily be described as Transgender but Ive encountered this misunderstanding often in conversations with the general public.
It made me re read the post I made nearly two years ago “Are we there Yet?” and the many interesting replies that followed.
Its clear to me now ( flash of the blinding obvious moment ) that we will never be “There”.
Always, there will be people around the world who Misunderstand us , Dislike us, Hate us, Want to kill us and like Donald Trump Dont want us as part of a Defence Force ( that makes me particularly angry) BUT most importantly there are lots of people these days who take a strong stand in defending peoples rights to be gender diverse and are genuinely warm to us in conversations when we meet. EXAMPLE “Cruise to Nowhere”. I love those people.
I sincerely hope that those ( because of personal circumstances) who cant enjoy the social interaction that many of us are lucky to enjoy nevertheless draw some satisfaction that prevailing attitudes in society ARE much better than they were say 10 years ago and perhaps even 5 years ago
We are very lucky to be living in Australia
Caroline
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13 Replies
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There has never been a better time in human history to be transgender – let me make that statement right from the start.
We can go on cruises; take plane flights; have dinners out; go to the movies; go to the nudey beach; pretty much do what we like and no one bats an eyelid. I found myself staring at this guy in line at the doctors surgery the other day because he had those huge “spacers” in his earlobes – honestly you could have rested 2 cups of coffee in them and he was covered in tattoo’s…but you know what? Once I’d had a bit a look I went back to playing Words With Friends on my phone and didn’t give him another thought which is probably what others do with us when they see us out and about.
I’m not concerned what Barry Humphries has to say. I’ve never been a big fan of Edna (except in a live show where the character is breathtaking) but I’ve always cried laughing over Sir Les Patterson and his generally appalling behaviour. I’ve read, and re-read, Humphries seminal Barry McKenzie comic strips ad nauseum over the years and wet myself every time. He has made a career out of being controversial – he once had an entire 7 course dinner served to him on a Melbourne suburban train with each course being delivered by a different waiter at various stops on the journey. He once emptied a can of Hienz Mixed Vegetables into an airline sick bag; pretended to vomit; then ate the mixed veg out of the bag. Humphries has never marketed himself as a crossdressing or drag comedian – Edna is just one of his characters, though probably the most popular one. If Eddie Izzard or Paul McCann suddenly came out and started slapping us about I would take issue but not Humphries.
An individual like Andrew Bolt, for example, who has shown himself time and time again to be a bigot, racist, and suffering from an advanced case of jingosim, annoys the crap out of me and I disagree with pretty much everything he says – so I just don’t read his columns or watch him on the telly.
We are never going to be “there” wherever that is. Those we perceive as being “there” are often pillored in the media for mis-steps in things they say or do and we all pile on as fast as we can anyway. The Prime Minister made a bit of a faux pas the other day when he greeted what he thought was a Chinese woman only to find out she was Korean and it was suddenly all over the place like a cheap hooker on Navy Day. Really? I would have, and probably have, made that same mistake.
It IS ok to have an opinion. It is ok to have an opinion we don’t neccessarily agree with. It is also ok for any of us to just ignore that opinion.
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Thanks Emma for the review of BH’s many talents.
Yes he is controversial and funny but I draw the line at high profile people such as he and Germaine Greer expressing such views on minority groups. Of course they are entitled to their opinions , but dont let them air them and feel support for their views. -
The reality of human existence is that some people have an inner need to find fault with others, no matter whether those others have any impact on their lives or not.
If we look back at recorded human history it is full of examples where one or more groups of people have singled out another group of people to distrust, denigrate and even hate. Religion has frequently been the source of justification for those people.
In some ways, ‘transgender’ is just the flavour of the month (albeit, seemingly a very long month) and eventually society dislike, hatred, opposition will move on to another target group. Often it’s simply a case of finding someone that is different in some fashion and use that as the excuse to vent otherwise restrained frustration.
There will always be those who will still think we are ‘sick’ or perverted. I have my own opinions about who I consider ‘sick’ but I’m happy to keep them to myself. As has been mentioned though, there are many people out there who love and support us and many who don’t even know us yet who still want to support us. That’s what we need to focus on. If you step in excrement on the footpath, you curse, wipe off your shoe and move on. That’s what we need to do with naysayers and bigots. -
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An article, by Jane Caro, in todays (Sunday 5/5 Sydney Morning Herald) Sunday Life supplement touches on the subject of how more common place it is to see a man wearing female clothing and no one seeming to bother. The scorns of the past are gone .
So in that respect we are indeed much closer to “There” than we have ever been before and it really doesnt matter a dash about those who cant accept the sight of a male in female clothing. -
I believe that Jane is standing for parliament in the coming election.
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She was going to stand against Tony Abbott for the seat of Warringah on Sydney’s North Shore but withdrew when Zali Steggall emerged as a strong candidate .
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OMG!!
Just read many of the mostly hostile responses from some people to Cricket Australias announcement on Twitter about inclusion of Transgender persons in Womens Cricket.I am waiting with interest to see if Cate McGregor gets involved…
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I am not registered for Twitter so have not seen those reactions Caroline, though I cn well imagine the content! I have however just red the ABC News item on the issue and noticed the severe testosterone levels that must be maintained for at least 12 months and the requirement that Trans players seeking inclusion at any level must demonstrate at least 12 m months living exclusively as a woman. I guess the Twitter respondents you refer to have not read the detail, but jumped straight to their threatened masculine defenses without thought. So, no, I guess we’re not there yet lol.
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Folk in the closed minded community (they are generally the loudest voices aren’t they?) are always quick to jump the gun and stir up a huge crap-fight over what will end up being a minor issue.
The sky was apparently going fall in a number of years ago when TG footballer Hannah Mouncey announced she was going to nominate for the AFLW Draft. Who would draft her they cried? What was each clubs’ position on having a TG person on their list? She would have a significant physical advantage the nay sayers moaned. Oh me, oh my. I feared none of this – the reason being is I had actually seen Hannah play and she was “ok” but certainly not up to AFLW standard. She was barely getting a kick in a very minor league so there was zero chance of her being drafted by anyone.
I suspect the same will apply with Cricket Australia. I don’t know about you girls but my feminine journey has not been based upon an opportunity to wield the willow at my local women’s cricket club. My extensive experience in community sporting clubs however does tell me that they are, in the vast majority, welcoming and inclusive to all regardless of whether a position has been formed by the governing body. I doubt many TG’s will take this up but as we have seen and heard it actually looks like they’ve (CA) formed an opinion on the matter that is not based on the thoughts of some drunk fat blokes sitting at their keyboards but rather they have gone to the science. Bravo!
As I finish writing this I may re-consider my retirement from competitive sport…I look quite hot in a Hockey strip
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Yep… Anything resembling empathy, acceptance , tolerance etc . does not compute in their tiny minds so they just emit hostility.
I just ignore them no point getting upset . I feel so lucky to have a group of Ladies at my golf club that have been so welcoming and accepting me in the group.
As you say Emma the people in the sport are welcoming ..the outsiders are just that ..outsiders ! -
An empty vessel makes the loudest noise
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I think we’re getting pretty close, I’ve just returned from a 6 week, 12500km caravan trip across the country from northern NSW to the West Coast & back, dressed the whole time & the acceptance was amazing. From the lovely ladies in Millers in Albany to the blokes in the bar at Poochera Hotel (probably the scariest bit, had to go into the bar at 5.30pm on a Friday afternoon to pay for a caravan site beside the pub) A couple of RBT’s in WA were no problem as was having to show ID (male drivers licence) in SA, once to buy beer in Ceduna & the other when an ATM swallowed my card in Keith on a Sunday afternoon & I had to wait until next morning to get it back, only comments were that my hair had grown since the photo was taken. Absolutely no issues using the ladies amenities in the caravan parks, though I did try to be in & out as quickly as possible & stay clear if there were any kids about.
Fabulous trip following the Silo Art Trail & it’s encouraged me to be more out now in my home area. -
Terri
That’s a great account of your own experiences in how much society has developed in its acceptance of GD people.
I have a view that the movie ” Priscilla Queen of the Desert” made a significant step in shifting the general publics attitudes in favour of acceptance rather than of hostility.On the other hand the big end of town still struggle to handle our needs in a sensitive manner .
Ive had a bit of a battle with my bank over what I regarded as simple request to have a credit card in my now legal female name , it was declined, despite me being a very long term customer. They said that would only be possible if I changed all of my other account details to Caroline. That didnt suit me so I applied for a credit card with another Bank
and was successful.I wrote a letter of complaint directly to the Customer Advocate of my bank who reports directly to the CEO . I did get a response from him offering an apology for what had occurred and They do seem to want to improve their activity with GD customers.
They are going to call me tomorrow to discuss what happened and I hope try to do better in the future
