Trans people wanted for new year's story

trans people wanted for new year's story - journo received my name via a trusted source

Hello Sally,
Thanks for your time on the phone this morning. I'm working on our New Year's Day coverage and I'm looking for someone who is planning to make a major change in their lives in 2014. I thought it would be great to interview someone from the transgender community who is in that position. That person/persons would ideally be doing something like living openly in their affirmed gender for the first time next year or doing that to a much greater extent than 2013. Or they could be starting the ... process in 2014. I'm open to any suggestions but it would need to be someone who will be going through some profound change in 2014. The plan is to publish the story in the newspaper and online and we'd also need to take photographs.
Ideally I'd like to interview someone today or tomorrow. I can be contacted on b.preiss@theage.com.au or 8667 2126.
Many thanks,

Benjamin Preiss
Journalist

Maria Kastoras

(triggers: grief, loss)

Just over 24 hours ago, I lost a friend of 10 years. Maria Kastoras, with whom I had worked for 10 years at Thalassaemia Australia (previously Thalassaemia Society of Victoria) passed away just after 11 pm (AEST) on December 25^th.

Maria had always been supportive of me through the tougher times in my life (and in times when it was generally much harder for any openly trans person to get work) and I will always have gratitude for that support. In a way she was a pioneering “cis ally” but it was more; she was just an outright good person.

As time went on and I became more settled in myself I felt our connection became more of a 2 way street. We supported each other through life’s issues and tougher times. We shared ideas about advocacy and community building together. We swapped Greek and Hebrew swear words and we laughed with another about the foibles and goings on of numerous communities - say no more. J

I am still feeling much grief and in the phases of shock, disbelief and denial. Maria would have been 45 next month and it doesn’t seem right she has gone. We had planned to do a quieter birthday lunch in January rather than a noisy Xmas lunch; now, not to be.

I knew Maria via Thalassaemia Australia and knew of her huge work for the world-wide Thal community; of course there were many other parts of her life. Her family, friends, soccer club and Greek community were just some of those facets and there will be many people who she touched through her warmth and who will also be feeling the sense of loss. My thoughts are especially with her son Theo and our colleague Sarah Burton.

So thank you Maria K. I don’t know the right words in Greek; thank you for being you and I’ll miss you will have to do for now.

Tropfest goes Troppo

(From me as an individual; not on behalf of any organisation I represent).

There are many perspectives to the debate about Tropfest winner (sic) "Bamboozled" ; I add mine as a person who among many other facets is transgender and an occasional stand-up/spoken word performer.

I run by the guideline when doing stand-up of “unless a person identifies as part of that group, they don’t make jokes about it.” As someone who is a person (emphasis) with many facets including transgender and performer, I can - and do - take the Michelle out of myself on those facets. I also used to sit and watch people who didn’t identify that way and who thought they had incredibly funny material about trans that I knew wasn’t funny at all. The good thing was - virtually no one else laughed at their material either.

As rightly noted by Will, “There’s Something About Miriam,” among many issues, was unacceptable  in that played on the emotive and false allegation that trans people are “deceivers” re intimacy. I ask people to note that recently, 20^th November marked Transgender Day of Remembrance and 239 known transphobic murders around the world in the last 12 months. A visit to the official website notes many such brutal murders over the years are because the other person is enraged by the idea of alleged “deception” by the trans person (think Boys Don’t Cry). General violence rates in Australia against trans people can be up to 25% - 12 times that of the overall population.

In this light, I really question the artistic and so-called “comedic” merit of Bamboozled and its worthiness to win an award. I would think it is surely possible to critique reality TV in a way that involves humour without stereotyping groups or possibly putting groups at any greater risk than they already face.

If we are asking organisations such as the AFL to take social responsibility in areas such as transgender, I think we are entitled to ask Tropfest and filmmakers to do the same. Certainly, freedom of opinion and artistic expression are important in society. I think human life and human dignity matter even more – maybe most of all.

Trans Xmas Party in Melbourne Thursday 12 December 9 PM

Speech at Trans Day of Remembrance 2013 in Adelaide

Welcome to all on this important day on the trans calendar.

TDOR is a time to remember and reflect - in many ways. We obviously remember those we have lost through transphobic hate crimes. TGEU’s monitoring service sadly reports 239 known murders in the 12 months to 31 October 2013. We also remember those we have lost to transphobia in general such as inadequate medical care, unemployment or homelessness. I also seem to recollect all the trans people I have known including those who have left us of natural causes too – hold that last thought.

I also like to reflect on the amazing strengths of trans people: our ability to survive, our courage, our resilience, our ability to speak out and tell the truth about our lives and build our allies across society and community.

Re allies, it would seem a total natural that trans/gender diverse and people who work in the sex industry would be allies, given there are a high proportion of trans peeps working in the industry. At times, however, trans people may have been unduly influenced by society’s general sex negativity, including negativity to those working in the sex industry. I think it is incredibly pleasing to see this shifting and that there is greater co-operation between those working in the sex industry, both cis and trans, and trans generally.

I can report that this reached a new high over in Melbourne, albeit in a time of challenge, in early 2011. At a conference called Feminist Futures, both trans and workers were extremely concerned about the presence of well known so-called radical feminist Sheila Jeffreys and her allies. Everyone came together to ensure monitoring of discussions in the program and to provide a safe space outside of the conference building, among other measures. Whether by our karma or other reasons, Sheila decided not to be officially involved in the conference – no loss. If I can add one moment of humour on this serious occasion, there was some irony in the announcement that “Sheila Jeffreys pulls out.” Interestingly, she did attend as a sort of observer to some of the workshops and seemed to listen. Whether anything shifted or not we will never know. Main outcome: I felt bond between trans and those working in the sex industry was stronger than before.

As we get some progress for trans people with what I call the macro or big-picture advances such as federal equal opportunity law and the sex and gender guidelines – noting there is still much to happen - there will be a shift to what I call the micro issues within trans. At a fantastic forum on intersex, trans and gender diverse youth health in Geelong last month, Cannon O’Saurus, a young trans person who is also President of Ygender, a trans and gender diverse youth group in Victoria, made an important comment. Cannon reminded us to remember the “margins within the margins” including regional/rural, youth, non-binary and culturally and linguistically diverse trans people – among others. I believe it would be appropriate to consider trans people working in the sex industry as possibly one of those specific groups as well. I would take this opportunity to say I would be only too willing to communicate with those working in the industry to ensure those specific needs are included in policy. The bonds that arose from a time of adversity now need to become proactive bonds.

I said I would mention someone who left us of natural causes. I want to close by mentioning a trans woman who sadly left us in 2004 for non-trans health reasons, being Jenny Phillips. Jenny was hugely involved in Victoria’s GLBT Anti-Violence Project and was also an editor of Seahorse Club of Victoria’s magazine, the Seahorse Times. At the end of every column she wrote she quoted 2 lines from the song, sung by John Farnham and written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson being “You’re the Voice.”

We're not gonna sit in silence
We're not gonna live with fear

I agree Jenny ! We will stand and speak and we will live with courage. We will courageously seek out allies of all sorts and thereby paint into a corner those who would oppose us and our rights, be we trans, people working in the sex industry or both. Every person is entitled to live authentically in line with their soul and we are all people too.

Peace and strength to all

Transgender Day of Remembrance 2013

On this Trans Day of Remembrance, I reflect on the amazing strengths of trans people. These include our ability to survive, our courage, our resilience, our ability to speak out and tell the truth about our lives and where it gets a chance, the amazing attributes of trans people such as the creative genius of Lana Wachowski or the political leadership of Georgina Beyer. I think of our ability to build, slowly in some places, faster in others our allies across society and community.

Yes, I reflect also on those we have lost through transphobic hate crimes. TGEU’s monitoring service sadly reports 239 known murders in the 12 months to 31 October 2013. I remember those we have lost to transphobia in general such as inadequate medical care, unemployment or homelessness. I state the extremely obvious: 239 too many.

I ask people to pause for a moment on this day and remember this apparent paradox; remember those lost and remember trans strengths too.

For whatever reason I am also thinking of a trans woman who sadly left us in 2004 (from causes other than transphobia), that person being Jenny Phillips. Jenny was hugely involved in Victoria’s GLBT Anti-Violence Project and was also an editor of Seahorse Club of Victoria’s magazine, the Seahorse Times. At the end of every column she wrote she quoted 2 lines from the song, sung by John Farnham and written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson being “You’re the Voice.”

We're not gonna sit in silence
We're not gonna live with fear

We will stand and speak and we will live with courage. We will courageously seek out allies of all sorts and thereby paint into a corner those who would oppose us and our rights. Every person is entitled to live authentically in line with their soul and that includes trans and gender diverse.

Peace and strength to all on this day.

A better way to drive the bus: where to next for true marriage equality?

Marriage forum in Melbourne Thursday 24 October 6 pm – be there!

From me as an individual and not on behalf of any organisation.

I strongly urge people who are less than satisfied with the process  - all of that process since 2004 - that led to the less than satisfactory outcome in the ACT re marriage to RSVP and attend the function below tonight.

I naturally ask people to be respectful at all times to all people, including panelists and organisers.

Simultaneously, it’s also time to ask panelists the hard questions in a respectful way. Direct questions. Questions that go to the bedrock of what community really means.

I don’t see myself getting married any time soon. In the words of Max Kauffman, “I never knew what real happiness was until I got married. And by then it was too late.”

Ok...seriously. In one sense marriage doesn’t affect me personally. But it does in another way...

In the last three days I have communicated with dear valued friends with broken hearts and torn emotions – both for themselves as individuals and as the amazing community contributors and leaders they are. When highly emotionally intelligent and principled people such as these people are in this much pain – Houston, there definitely has to be a problem.

I have admired the dignified and mature restraint on social media from intersex, trans, gender diverse and strongly allied people who clearly feel the ACT scenario is a case of “thrown under the bus.” Yet I can feel that same pain as experienced by my close friends seeping through my computer from those who I don’t know as well – or even those I don’t know at all. All these people are empathic and want to celebrate the ACT scenario with and for their cis allies – but obviously cannot do so with a free and full heart.

No-one need be thrown under the bus. No-one needs to be left at the back of the bus. This is *BGILT Australia in 2013. We all have a right to have our hands on the wheel - and we are better off when we drive the damn bus together. We can go faster and go further when we work together. The fantastically co-operative process that led to the addition of 3 attributes to federal law this year, including the world-first intersex protection - shows that win-win co-operation can be done - and done very easily.

We therefore have a right to ask in a win-win way – what’s stopping similar co-operation happening re parts of the marriage campaign?

And more to the point – we have a right to some bloody good answers. And “bloody good” is about as butch as I get – so when I say it, you know I mean it!

*BGILT – I’ve put in that order coz it’s alphabetical. It has nothing to do with my being bisexual and putting B first for that reason – honest and for true. J

http://www.law.monash.edu.au/castancentre/events/2013/marriage-equality.html