Back To the Main SiteSex Files Launch
Yesterday the Australian Human Rights Commission launched their Sex Files Report at Parliament House. Peter Hyndal was asked to speak at the launch alongside Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes, and Western Australian Senator Louise Pratt.
This is a copy of the speech that Peter presented.
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My name is Peter.
I am 36 years old.
I am a man.
Unfortunately, the Government disagrees.
The Government maintains that I am a woman.
Although I am a man, I have not always been a man. My birth was registered as female. And I lived the first 25 years of my life as a woman.
When I was a woman, my personal identity as a woman was unquestionably mine to ‘own’ without interference from Government.
Now that I am a man, my personal identity as a man is consistently interfered with by all levels of Government.
This is not the case in other countries. The United Kingdom for example, has provided me with a document stating that I am legally a man for all purposes under all UK law. Many other countries in the world also legally recognise me as a man. Which is great, and just, and right… but I don’t live in any of those countries. I live in Australia, I have done all my life, and my government, the Australian government, refuses to recognise me as a man.
I have lived in the ACT for almost 20 years, but the ACT will not recognise me as a man because I was born in NSW. And NSW will not recognise me as a man until I provide evidence that I have been sterilised.
I believe that I have a right to have my own identity recognised by my own government. I find it morally unjustifiable for any government to make my rights contingent upon my surgical sterilisation.
And so I am, officially, in no-man’s land.
Unofficially, the situation is even more complicated.
Without a nationally consistent, sensible approach, different agencies struggle to know how to deal with reality.
The taxation office recognises me as a man. The Family Assistance Office says that I am a woman. Centrelink not only refuses to recognise me as a man, but also insists that my heterosexual female partner is a lesbian. Medicare says that I am male – most of the time, but every now and then, they “turn me into a woman” so they can process specific claims that relate to procedures that apparently only women can have. My Australian Passport shows my sex as “male”, but was issued along with a letter stating that the Australian government does not believe that I am really male, and that I would be committing fraud if I ever used the Passport to identify myself as a man.
Whenever I have to provide ID – to open a bank account, to cash a cheque, or even to collect a parcel from the Post Office, the official documents that I can provide state that I am female.
Sometimes my ID is not accepted at all. The bank teller looks at me, and says “but that can’t be your ID – it says you are a woman!”. Mostly my ID is accepted – but only because I am prepared to cause a scene, to declare to the bank teller, and their supervisor, and the manager on duty, and everyone else waiting in the queue behind me, that “I am transsexual”. “Oh!, so he’s really a woman! I guess we should let her cash the cheque..”
Today is a very significant day for me – this report is the light at the end of the tunnel. It is the first step towards law reform that is long overdue. Law reform however, will only be achieved when governments actually act on these recommendations.
The day that government actually acts on these recommendations will be of even greater significance to me – because it will signal for the first time my government’s acknowledgement that I exist.
My story is not isolated – tens of thousands of other people with similar personal histories share these experiences. And there are hundreds of thousands more people out there, who are sex and gender diverse but have very different personal histories, who currently experience equivalent levels of hardship and uncertainty.
When governments act on these recommendations, the practical every day lives of all of us will be dramatically improved – forever.
2009 Sydney Mardi Gras
Our Entry in Mardi Gras was a raging success. We had 22 people show up on the day to march with us. We wore fantastic green t-shirts, had awesome placards, and made waves with the crowd, the other floats, and the commentators alike!
It was my first ever Mardi Gras, and the feeling of marching with 21 other trans people, genderqueers, and our friends and families while being cheered on by the crowd, was an incredibly empowering experience. We handed out hundreds of stickers that said “Gender Rights are Human Rights” and lollipops with “Trannies are Sweet” written on them. Trans people and their supporters in the crowd screamed “I love trannies too!” at us from the sidelines, and we had post op FTM’s flash their scars at us.
I was thrilled to see the level of support for our community from other LGBT organisations, and from the wider community. Some people were obviously confused by our marching group, and our placards gave more than a few cause to pause and think about their preconceived notions of what a trans person looks like, and what they experience.
So, maybe next year YOU will be marching with us too! :)
Progressive Advertising
Yesterday we posted about a transphobic advertisement from the UK. Today I wanted to post something much more pleasant.
This video is an advertisement for an Argentinian bank, and features a trans woman. I say, good on Banco Provincia! May they get throngs of new customers for this!
Transcript after the cut.
(Read on …)
Health Advertisment Relies on Transphobia
Text reads: If you drink like a man, you might end up looking like one
I find this poster extremely offensive. Not only is it sexist, and relying on the pressure on women to be conventionally attractive in order to control the behaviour of women, but its transphobic.
A trans woman in Warrington where this poster is most widely distributed has made an official complaint, and a request for it to be removed. NHS Warrington, the organisation behind the image, has claimed that they consulted with the “national lead for the transgender community”, and that they saw no problem with the image. I am slightly dubious about that claim, and would like to know what ‘national lead’ they spoke to. Perhaps the UK is much more organised than Australia, but it seems unlikely that there is one organisation or person who is the ‘national leader’ for trans people.
As was pointed out at the Sociological Images blog:
The ad is relying on the viewer being disgusted at the idea of a masculine face covered in make-up. That is part of what is supposed to create a negative reaction. But make-up and masculinity are not intrinsically or naturally at odds. We only believe this to be so.
Relying on people to be disgusted by a masculine face wearing make up? Thats transphobia, and that should not be acceptable.
Request for Interviewees
Hat tip to Nix for this:
FOR CLEO MAGAZINE
Hi folks,
I’m looking to interview two or three young couples (20-35-ish), in which one partner is basically a straight female and the other is trans, for an article for CLEO magazine.
The article is looking at issues facing women whose male partner or boyfriend announces they wish to transition to female; and/or women who have been dating a guy who’s a trans man.
Let me say straight away that is no sensationalist piece aimed to titillate; it’s a chance to educate half a million readers of a mainstream women’s magazine about some of the challenges faced by couples in which one person is trans, how to overcome them, handling family and friends, ‘do’s and don’ts’ and so on.
About me: I am a freelance journalist who writes predominantly for the GLBTIQ media. I write for SX, Sydney’s weekly magazine for the queer community, am the former editor of Cherrie, which during my time was very trans and genderqueer friendly, and the co-editor of a new book called Trans People in Love (Routledge 2008), an anthology of real-life stories by trans people from across the globe of their experiences of being in love with a significant other or others. I am a lesbian who’s been in a relationship with a beautiful trans woman (co-editor Tracie O’Keefe) for 15 years. Tracie has on more than one occasion been ‘fitted up’ by mainstream media seeking to sensationalise her trans status so rest assured I know how horrible that is and would never put another person through that. I figure that if a mainstream women’s magazine such as CLEO is willing to run an article along these lines, they may as well have a writer who understands the issues and sensitivity required!
The reason I’m looking for younger couples and ones in which one of the partners is essentially a straight female (although their sexuality may change or broaden and this would be great to discuss) is simply that this is CLEO’s demographic (I’m not being ageist!).
I’m happy to do interviews by phone, email or in person (central Sydney only). CLEO would also like one couple to be photographed, so please indicate if you’re up for this (if not, but you’re willing to be interviewed anyway, please still get in touch).
Deadline: I need to do interviews by Friday 6 February.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS CALLOUT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES, NETWORKS ETC.
Thank you in advance for your help.
My contact details are:
Katrina Fox
Freelance journalist & editor
Ph +61 (0) 2 9399 8796
Mob 0404 089 045
Email info[AT]katrinafox[DOT]com
Web www.katrinafox.com
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