And while we're on the subject of education, here's the latest news:
Thank you for your interest in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's project on sex and gender diversity.I intend being there - but then, I'm not Stealth. I know at least one person who won't be attending, merely making a written submission, as the social consequences of disclosure can be dire. I honestly can't blame them.
You may recall I emailed you to advise you about the public meetings held by the Australian Human Rights Commissioner in Melbourne and Brisbane in June. Thank you to everyone who participated.
I now would like to advise you of a public meeting being held in Sydney. A meeting is also being held in Canberra on either the 23 or 24 July 2008. I will provide more details on the Canberra meeting shortly.
We will not be holding meetings in other states or territories due to resource constraints. However, we are planning an online blog which we hope will be able to reach many people across Australia. We think it will be possible to continue many important discussions about the sex and gender diversity project online. I will have more information to release about this shortly.
Please forward details of the meetings to anyone who may be interested in attending.
If you have any questions, please contact me on 02 9284 9650.
Sex and gender diversity consultation - Sydney
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) is looking at the human rights issues facing people who are transgender, transsexual or intersex.
For more information on HREOC's project see
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/gay_lesbian/index.html#diversity
The Australian Human Rights Commissioner would like to meet with people from the sex and gender diverse community.
When - Monday 21 July, 6pm - 8pm.
Where - Human Rights Commission at level 8, 133 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.
RSVP and Questions - Sarah Winter, Policy Officer, HREOC on 02 9284 9650 or sarah.winter@humanrights.gov.au.
The meeting will be an opportunity to explain the project, for participants to share some personal stories and to discuss human rights issues and possible solutions.
The Human Rights Commissioner is particularly interested in hearing about the difficulties faced by people in changing official documents.
Some food will be provided.
Kind regards,
Sarah
Sarah Winter : Policy Officer, Human Rights Unit :
Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission :
( +61 2 9284 9650 : * sarah.winter@humanrights.gov.au
I do urge those who are either out, or semi-stealth like me, to attend and show the very human reality behind the dry statistics. To educate people who have shown open minds on the issue. That should make a change from the usual.
4 comments:
I, too, encourage all those who can to attend events like this. There can be value in outing yourself for strategic events, as it adds weight to the argument that those who are transgender deserve and require 'protection from the heartless' (to paraphrase Rep. Sanchez's comment at the U.S. House hearing on Transgender issues.)
Also, being out doesn't mean you have to out yourself at every event. I do not announce my status when buying bread and milk or gas, seeing a movie, etc. Only when it can count. I can say my input to the deliberation process for the implementation of the U.S. Real ID act got at least some consideration of transgenders into the final implementation rules (though it left it up to the individual states whether they would 'play nice' or not. I know this for a fact, as an acquaintance attended a meeting two weeks after the Real ID Town Hall where I and Johanna Rassmussen spoke about transgender concerns.
The meeting was for Department of Homeland Security and representatives of individual states' Motor Vehicle departments to hash out the nuts and bolts of implementing the Real ID act.
The acquaintance said it was weird listening to these bureaucrats discussing for over an hour someone he had met personally. He added that many of the comments were not nice at all. But in the end, the group addressed the issue of accommodating transgenders in the Real ID act.
The video is here, Johanna speaks at 41 minutes, I speak at 1 hr 14 min.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2522461262959180844&q=Real+ID+Town+Hall&ei=WThySKWgB4H2qAPbu-XUCg&hl=en
Again, I encourage you to, if at all possible, come out to support increased inclusions of and protections for the transgender community. Put your good where it will do the most!
Alas being disabled, without a vehicle or licence and in a fairly rural area it's very very unlikely I can make it.
For me it's not being out as such but transportation, accomodation, finances and the limitations of my disability that are the obstacles to my attending.
I hope you can give us an account of how the meeting goes and hopefully the online blog will enable me to contribute once it is up.
p.s. The SAGE link doesn't seem to be working
BBB - odd, it works for me... please try again. Google SAGE if need be.
It's working now, whatever the issue was on my end or theirs it seems to be solved.
The yellow title on the page is hard to read but the site seems to have some good info and good folk.
SAGE looks like quite a good group.
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