Sunday November 20 marks the 13th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day set aside to remember those who have died as a result of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Only this week, a burned and dismembered body found on a Detroit road has been identified as 19-year-old transgender woman, Shelly Moore.
Most of the Australian transgender people who participated in the Tranznation survey (87%) had experienced at least one form of stigma or discrimination on the basis of their gender; a third had been threatened with violence; one fifth had been physically attacked.
The scope and seriousness of physical and mental health problems faced by transgender people in Australia has led the Board of the National LGBTI Health Alliance to make sex and gender diversity one of the organisation’s top priority areas, establishing a working group composed of some of Australia’s foremost transgender activists. Sujay Kentlyn, a genderqueer identified person, has been appointed as a Health Policy Officer with the Alliance, to work in this priority area.
“While we remember the lives damaged and lost to Transphobia in this country, this year we also have a lot to celebrate,” said Peter Hyndal of A Gender Agenda in the ACT and convener of the Alliance Working Group.
“We congratulate the Commonwealth Government on its reform of passport laws, allowing Transgender people to be identified as their lived gender without the requirement of surgery, and also allowing Transgender people and those of ambiguous sex to list their gender on passports with an 'X' if their choice is supported by a doctor's statement.
“We are very encouraged by the Commonwealth Government’s commitment to introduce new prohibitions on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” Hyndal said, “which is part of the current consultation on the Consolidation of Commonwealth Anti-Discrimination Laws.
“Nevertheless, we know a lot more work needs to be done, especially in the areas of health reform, and sex and gender on documents. Transgender people are among the most disadvantaged in Australia, and we are keen to work with the government to significantly improve their health and wellbeing,” Hyndal said.
