Past present future
(This article has been lost online due to the merger of the Southern Star and Sydney Star Observer websites. Below is the original unedited article. Our apologies for any inconvenience).
The past, the present, the future
Saturday 9 October marks 10 years since the proclamation of amendments to Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity. It seems a good time to pause and ask where we’ve been and where we go next in relation to issues at the state level.
It’s worth reflecting on what life was like pre-2000. Situations of rape and attempted murder against transgender people occurred in the workplace. 95% of those wishing to affirm their identity in the same workplace were fired on the spot. (Yes, this still happened until 2 weeks ago at a Federal level; hallo Australian Defence Forces).
Gays, lesbians and bisexuals had experienced some protection from 1995 under the “lawful sexual activity” attribute, but still faced discrimination in many areas. The case of a tram driver who was derogatory to some queer folk on their way to Pride March comes to mind, along with anti gay and lesbian remarks by National Party Police minister Bill McGrath in 1996.
The past decade has seen advances which we almost take for granted now. We have a transgender police officer who after about 5 years has been promoted and where transgender is just not an issue. However, this person’s right to career choice had to overcome then (2003) Opposition leader Robert Doyle comparing transsexuals to criminals and the infamous Herald-Sun “Sex Swap Cop” headline (would you love your child unconditionally if they became a Murdoch media headline writer?).
On a totally good note, we admired the great success of Sharon Warfe in the Metropolitan Fire Brigade including great coverage of her story in mainstream media. Most of all, we now have a relationship between Victoria Police and the GLBT community that has to be up there with the best in the world. Thank you Melinda Edwards, Scott Davis, Gabby Tyacke and the crew in blue…may the force be with you! Perhaps the biggest disappointment is lack of progress on prison issues…let’s just say it hasn’t been through lack of trying.
So (conveniently as we head towards a state election): what next? Tackling systemic homophobic harassment (including bi and transphobic harassment) is vital and we look forward to the Eames report and With Respect Awareness Project report as the next steps on that path. From a transgender point of view, social reform through a permanent gender centre is now the urgent and overwhelming priority at the state level.
However, funding for lesbian-specific and bisexual-specific issues also must happen quickly. Ending prejudice of all sorts “under the rainbow” still has distance to travel. Achieving equality re adoption is a must-have. Any efforts the Victoria can make towards documentation reform for transgender and intersex are welcome. Ensuring equal GLBT participation in sport and getting the transgender sport exemption out of the Act are on the radar. And please GLBTI punters – add to the list and let us know other long term aims!
Personally, I never had a chance ten years ago to publicly thank Kenton Miller, Janet Jukes and Kayleen White for their huge part in achieving the Equal Opportunity Act amendments so I’m doing it now – thank you. And, as in the last 10 years, the VGLRL and TransGender Victoria look forward to working in partnership and achieving another decade of greater “justice and equity” for Victoria’s GLBT community.
Sally Goldner is VGLRL Treasurer & TransGender Victoria spokesperson.
