-
Politics and us – have we a voice ?
-
Quote:All I was constructively suggesting was & I quote myself;Quote:If the majority of people don’t believe they would ever live their transgender fulltime, then they would have less motivation to care about a community voice or be politically motivated.From my experiences I tend to take the opposite view. I think it is those who have not found the opportunity to express their gender fully in their life who have the most to gain from a community voice, and most to gain from changes in the attitudes of society, and care most about our community. However they are also the least able to do anything about changing their situation.
Those who do have the opportunity to freely “be themselves” either are comfortable and just want to get on with life, or have the anger/passion/whatever to speak out for the community.
Unfortunately the candidates for “community voice” (and I agree this is a very small minority) are often preoccupied with the issues they they now face… single sex marriage, legal status, subsidised surgery… and completely ignore the far more pressing needs of the mute majority.
The harsh reality is that it is much easier to campaign on behalf of ones own needs rather than the guessed needs of others. Till someone comes along who can do this and engage the majority I think the lack of a voice is here to stay!
-
Amanda wrote;
Quote:From my experiences I tend to take the opposite view. I think it is those who have not found the opportunity to express their gender fully in their life who have the most to gain from a community voice, and most to gain from changes in the attitudes of society, and care most about our community. However they are also the least able to do anything about changing their situation.I don’t disagree with that at all. Certainly if those people wish to express their gender fully but feel restricted to do so then they stand to gain.
My point though related not to whether they may gain but possibly an explanation as to why they didn’t join this conversation when it was so active.
I’m not pushing my point but rather explaining the difference between my intention & your reply. As I said it was just a thought – an observation of the interactions & varying views of the members of this forum (which of course is not the entire TG community).
My thoughts were sparked by the almost polar opposite replies about ‘coming out’, along with the (known) differences in how people on TgR identify their gender, i.e. from hobbyist to transsexual & all points inbetween.
I was trying to see if there were basic reasons as to why some are more motivated than others to (try) to discuss the necessary steps required to improve the circumstances for all Tg persons…if divides other than identification (& therefore needs) can be identified it may help determine how to engage more people. Then again it may show show that there is enough difference in needs, for the already existent varying groups to continue on their own. Who knows?On a separate point;
Quote:Interesting that a relatively large group of people is out enough to come to Katoomba this weekend and discuss as a group the issues facing transgender people. But the overlap with those who discuss the issue in the relative safety of the forums is very small. Read into that just what you will – another apparent divide perhaps.Regardless of comments made elsewhere, you know quite well that I believe the group discussions at Katoomba are a great idea & I hope they are a great success. I would be very interested to know how many people attending TF are doing so specifically for the 2.5 hours of formal discussion though. If their primary reason for attending is the discussions then that is indeed a good thing but of course regardless of the intention, participation in the talks is positive.
I really don’t know what to read into the overlap you speak of. Maybe it can be answered best by your own thoughts;
Quote:Those who do have the opportunity to freely “be themselves” either are comfortable and just want to get on with life,& maybe;
Quote:The harsh reality is that it is much easier to campaign on behalf of ones own needs rather than the guessed needs of others.Or maybe not?
-
I had to comment on this quote from Amanda, not that I disagree with it as such but more that the reasons for a possible divide are probably a lot simpler than not wishing to compromise thier safety by taking part,
Quote:Interesting that a relatively large group of people is out enough to come to Katoomba this weekend and discuss as a group the issues facing transgender people. But the overlap with those who discuss the issue in the relative safety of the forums is very small. Read into that just what you will – another apparent divide perhaps.I would love to come to Transformal and discuss these issue’s in person but I am unable to due to personal reasons none of which relate to an inability to leave the house in a dress or in fact to avoid a discusion.
I can understand why Amanda wants to have this discusion at Katoomba, and I am sure that many like me would like to attend, but also like me they just can’t. I don’t see any diivide in our community voice that can be attributed to Transformal in any way.
If there is a divide in our community voice I feel that it is just within the individual needs of each member here. Too many of us are just too comfortable in our lives the way they are and probably can see no reason to get up and rock the boat. Its easy for those of us who want to to get frustrated by this attitude, but it is pointless to let it affect the way in which we can still ciontribute to the betterment of our society, with or without the help of the bulk of the membership. As long as anything we do does not contribute detrimentally to the lives of anyone else I can see no problem in the minority trying to improve things for the majority.
If we can make a difference to our quality of life with a single voice then why not?
-
I’m with Pamela. I was desperately keen to come to Katoomba. I joined TGR in preparation. But family circumstances shifted and I just can’t this year. I’ll just have to make do with the forum and the first restaurant outing I can get to until next year.
-
So not sure what happened to the post I was putting forward yesterday I must have done something blonde. Anyway I just wanted to add another two cents worth. A lot of people who I now know in the transgender community are I would propose worn out by the simple life challenges they have faced, it is fair to say I think that we travel a difficult path and human resilience can only accommodate so much before you must preserve something for you. Most people agree there are issues that need addressing but the diversity of the gender difference means those needs are of varying in importance to each individual.
I have been considering what there is if anything that would really tie us all together, but I think the only thing is the difference in gender expression. Other than that difference we all as it seems stand alone. The thing is that if we could get people to move past the individual point of view there is a huge amount to be gained . One thing that I have identified is real focused support for gender difference is scarce , if there is to be a change in that circumstance it needs a focused efforts from the greater gender diverse community. I am not sure if it is possible to motivate people to do anything though with the realization that mostly peoples perennial battle with the reality of life is all they can bare.
It is I guess as it always seems to be in society down to a few dogged individuals to drive change weather or not that suits the needs of the many or not. It is still however one feels important to have a say wherever possible to ensure the people who are going one with a fight, at least had a knowledge of issues of others.
I personally think that the psychological health and well being is the most important thing for the community at large, this requires serious interest from both professional bodies and us, and that it can be best supported by a well funded education program that addresses the issues gender diversity across the entire community. How we will achieve something that provides this I am not really sure but it is the focus of my thoughts and discussion for now.
A voice is only ever heard if it speaks clearly and has something worth the attention of others. A community voice needs to condense a myriad of voices into something that is important to that community and says something to others that’s worth their attention. A voice in the wilderness is a lonely voice and will not be heard by many if at all.
-
The cynic in me would categorically state that in our political system we neither have the numbers nor are our number concentrated sufficiently to interest the major parties as we could not swing a seat in their favour. However, as time goes on there is a genuine mellowing of people’s attitude to TG people. Perhaps, given the fullness of time a TG will emerge with sufficient savvy and political nous that they can transcend the bias. After all if you hark back to the 1970s and the 1980s then a gay member of parliament would never have been considered, now 35 years later we have a gay man leading a political party and arguably the fourth most powerful person presently in the government is also gay.
I would contend that they got to those positions because of talent and hard work, not by playing the ‘gay’ trump card. Perhaps it won’t happen in our time, but one day a TG will be a member of parliament.
-
If a TG can be the head honcho of the FBI, how do you know that a political voice in Canberra is not already a TG, like many of us hiding in the wardrobe.
-
Have we a voice? I have to continue with this after yesterday finding out that appears we do herein SA with out any knowledge or concent! The South Australian government has seen fit to set up the Rainbow Council. Heard of it? I had heard that it existed after it was established and now I’ve discovered that apparently they speak for the transgender community. They did a survey. So poorly promoted that they only found 19 trans identified people in SAto participate. So well are they doing the work at hand that they state in their report that there are no support groups in the state.
There is a member of the council that has involvement with a group called SATS , South Australian Transgender Support. To all intents and purposes they are a non entity. They have a site on the web. They haven’t seen fit to update it in three years nor does it appear that it is even tended. Emails bounce so its really as I say a non event.
Have we a voice based on what I see from the Rainbow Council? Well no I say. To act with authority on behalf of the trans community with out thorough consultation is not giving us a voice. It is putting us in the same position we always have been in. The position where we are dictated to be a small group of ill informed people who are not interested in the community but are wanting to push their own agenda. Consulting is critical if you want to represent the best interests of the community.
We are currently in the process of creating such a consultative action group here in SA to stop people from claiming that they are the voice. It is not constructive for it creates division and there by makes us less able to make an impact. I really appreciate people who care but I am not impressed by self appointed leaders. Either talk to the constituents of the community or stop pretending to speak for us!
-
I recently joined the NSW Greens because their values and policies closely align with my own values and views. At the two social gatherings I’ve attended (as Chantelle), I’ve had separate conversations on each occasion with Senator Lee Rhiannon and Dr Mehreen Faruqi. Both Lee and Mehreen warmly welcomed me and were genuinely interested, without being patronising, in my situation as a MTF transgendered person. Initially I didn’t know that Mehreen is a NSW MLC and that she’s the Greens spokesperson for GLBTI rights.
Consequently I have been asked to brief Mehreen and her staff on transgender issues in a meeting at NSW Parliament House next Friday. The Greens and Independent MLA Alex Greenwich recently issued a press release http://mehreenfaruqi.com/joint-statement-greens-alex-greenwich-mp-to-push-for-greater-trans-and-intersex-recognition-and-protections on the problems the trans community faces with relation to forced divorces (Marriage Act). This is not something that (yet) affects me, but the Greens are interested in gaining further insight into other challenges facing transgender people.
I am self-employed as a Procurement & Contract Management consultant (mainly to the Commonwealth Government) and since I’ve been presenting full-time as Chantelle my work has dried up: I’m about to seek Centrelink assistance. There is a subtle, but nevertheless real, discrimination happening, which is of course illegal.
If any of you wishes to provide suggestions for my briefing on Friday please feel free to respond to this post or email me via TgR.
-
I’ve just filled in an online survey about TG Health. It’s flagged in another thread on this site. One late question was about anything additional that would help the TG community access health care. I put in a bid for easier access to confidential health care services for TGs in regional areas. I live in a small village and know my GP’s staff socially so I travel to Sydney for counselling and TG GP services. Others may not be able to afford that. Feel free to raise that with the Greens Chantelle.
