bird of paradox

Last July, the Governor General of Canada made changes to the Aeronautics Act, (note: these changes were not subject to the Parliamentary process) which have the potential to adversely affect several groups of people.

The specific clause which is of concern states that:

Sec 5.2(1) An air carrier shall not transport a passenger if

(a) the passenger presents a piece of photo identification and does not resemble the photograph;
(b) the passenger does not appear to be the age indicated by the date of birth on the identification he or she presents;
(c) the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification he or she presents; or
(d) the passenger presents more than one form of identification and there is a major discrepancy between those forms of identification.

There is an exemption for any passenger whose appearance has changed as a result of medical reasons (and they have a letter from a healthcare professional confirming this), but in principle, the ruling gives the authorities the option to bar people with a mismatch between their gender presentation and “the identification he or she presents” (presumably this is most likely to be their passport) from entering the country. So if you were assigned one gender at birth but your presentation is at odds with the stereotypical appearance often associated with that gender, then you may be prevented from flying into, and within, Canada. It’s fairly clear that this could have a significant impact on some TS/TG, intersex and other non-binary identified people.

The risk of being prevented from travelling because of a mismatch between one’s gender presentation and legal documentation isn’t a new thing and can be traced back, if I understand correctly, at least as far as the days after the 9/11 attacks when some male members of the bin Laden family were believed to have fled the US dressed in burqas. A longer-term outcome of this has been the steady introduction of body-scanning technology at all airports in the US and the UK wherein one’s anatomy is clearly visible on-screen to airline employees (note: not security officials). In passing, this article by Victoria Cohen in The Observer last October points out that these scanners are also being introduced at some UK railway stations.

However TS/TG, intersex and non-binary identified people are not the only vulnerable group here: Canada has also recently introduced legislation to prevent Muslim women from covering their faces while taking the oath of citizenship and I can’t help but wonder if these regulations could also be used against this group, too. The logic is that if a woman’s face is not visible, then it’s not possible for the Canadian authorities to assess if her appearance is congruent with her documents. I think that there is significant potential for Islamophobic discrimination and associated human rights breaches as a result.

Of course, many of the particular concerns of TS/TG, intersex and other non-binary identified people could, theoretically, be allayed by the removal of gender markers from passports, and by the delinking of one’s legal documentation to one’s gender presentation and medical/surgical status. As things stand, even if a TS/TG person has undergone surgical transition, there is no guarantee that they won’t be tripped up by the requirement; for example, last year, Egypt refused entry to two TS women who had undergone surgery because their documents and physical bodies differed.

It seems to me that the questions of document mismatch and gender markers on passports could well benefit from further consideration by those with the power to legislate around human rights issues. But I doubt that’s likely to happen as long as certain countries continue to view every air traveller as either a potential terrorist or in need of punishment for not complying with cultural stereotypes of what is meant by male and female.

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Cross-posted at The F-Word and Exile On Moan Street

Last week, the government of Sweden took the decision to retain a 1972 gender recognition law under which TS/TG and gender variant people who want to change their legal gender are required to be sterilised. According to Ulrika Westerlund, President of RFSL (the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights), this was done to satisfy the conservative Christian Democrat party who, along with the nationalist Sweden Democrat party, are the only two groups in favour of the law. I gather that Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeld was fully aware that this reqiurement is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights which is enacted as law in Sweden.

The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, has made a very clear stand on the issue, that forcing TS/TG and gender variant people to undergo unwanted medical interventions in order to change their legal gender is a breach of human rights. The Comittee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, representing 47 membership states has taken a similar stand. The bitter irony in all this is, of course, that while Sweden is often considered to be in the forefront of human rights advocacy and implementation, this decision would seem to be a huge step backwards.

Concerns have been voiced at the loss of the opportunity to bring the legislation up to date: in Sweden, the law is only reviewed every forty years and it already creates at least one anomaly, in that the present law also requires TS/TG and gender variant people to be single in order to receive legal gender recognition – and this in a country which already has same sex marriages. Courts have previously overruled this requirement, but nevertheless it is still enshrined in the law. Additionally, there is the risk of setting a precedent and this is a particular worry for some TS/TG and gender variant people in Finland where the gender equality ombudsman has recommended that Finland should remove a similar requirement from the Finnish law. Finland also has a Christian Democratic Party in its Government which has already blocked a reform giving same sex couples the right to marry.

Although Sweden is not alone in upholding the requirement of forced sterilisation (the Netherlands, Denmark and France are other European countries with similar legislation [source]), the outcry on various TS/TG forums was immediate and international; amongst others, Human Rights Watch, the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights and TGEU and ILGA-Europe have all made formal statements of protest to the Swedish Prime Minister and Parliament, calling for the immediate abolition of the forced sterilisation requirement for legal purposes.

Meanwhile, All Out, an activist group advocating for improvements in the lives of LGB & T people worldwide, has joined with RFSL to launch an online petition to let the Swedish Prime Minister know that this legislation is unacceptable. The petition currently has over 36,000 signatories and is aiming for at least 50,000. If this is something you feel you can support, then please sign – and distribute the information and the link as widely as you can.

http://allout.org/stop_forced_sterilization/

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[Image: transgender symbol on blue and yellow background compiled from public domain images in Wikimedia Commons (here and here) by Helen]

Cross-posted at The F-Word and Questioning Transphobia

I saw this meme over at the lovely Kinelfire’s blog this morning and thought I’d see if I could fill in my own version.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Attempted suicide.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I haven’t made new year’s resolutions for a long, long time and can’t think of any reason why I’d want to start again now.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Not that I know of.

5. What countries did you visit?

Apart from infrequent visits to the hairdresser in Windsor, I don’t think I strayed outside London.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

I’d have to say ‘a job’. Not that I’m particularly a fan of working for capitalism, more that one needs an income to be able to do such mundane things as keep a roof over your head, pay bills, eat, that kind of thing.

Realistically, I don’t see it happening: there are so few suitable jobs out there, and if you’re not a 21-year old graduate or able/willing to work for free as an intern, well, it’s off to the scrapheap you go.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

13-21 June. I took a massive overdose on the thirteenth and spent the next eight days unconscious on the floor of the flat. The fallout continues, on many levels, and shows no signs of easing up.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I don’t think there was one.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Pretty much everything.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Yes, to both. The mental illness that drove me to attempt suicide and the physical manifestations of the neurological damage that it caused.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

There’s been no ‘best thing’. Just keeping on top of everyday bills has been all there is. And I’m not doing particularly well at that.

12. Where did most of your money go?

What money? £67.50 a week handout from the state? Don’t make me laugh.

13. What did you get really excited about?

I can’t think of a single thing.

14. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Hard to pick just one. The album Almanac by Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo sustained me through some difficult times; the live version of Pause always gave me goosebumps. Anna, Jo, Emily and Gill’s a cappella singing just floored me every time I heard it.

This film was made by Patti Gaal-Holmes to accompany the album version (I couldn’t find a live version on YouTube that really did justice to the music):

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

- happier or sadder? Sadder.
- thinner or fatter? Fatter.
- richer or poorer? Poorer.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Staying out of debt. The demoralisation from the endless, dawn-to-dusk worrying about how (if) I’m going to pay my bills is absolutely debilitating.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Getting deeper into debt.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

Alone.

19. What was your favourite TV program?

I don’t watch TV. Even when I had a TV I didn’t watch much more than the news and the occasional documentary.

20. What were your favourite books of the year?

I lost the habit of reading a long time ago; I keep trying to find it again, but without success. I’ve picked up and put down books by Jeanette Winterson (Art & Lies) and Natasha Walter (Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism) this year.

If I’m allowed audio versions, then the BBC broadcast adaptations of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy and Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 managed to hold my attention.

21. What was your favourite music from this year?

If I had to hang just one tag on it, I’d say ‘folk music’ – although not the hardcore, stick-your-finger-in-your-ear, tra-la-la-hey-nonny-no stuff.

Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo I’ve mentioned above, and I’ve recently been listening a lot to Nick Drake’s last demos, Sandy Denny’s band Fotheringay’s self-titled album and England Take My Bones by Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls (although I’m not entirely convinced that I’d call that last one ‘folk’).

John Martyn and Can have often been on a playlist somewhere and I’ve heard some excellent music (although not necessarily whole albums) by: Anna Elias and The Forlorn Hope, Ben Howard, Ellie Lawson, Gillian Welch, Jen Buxton, June Tabor and Oysterband, Laura Cantrell, Mechanical Bride, Megan Henwood, PJ Harvey, Samantha Whates, The Gentle Good and The Unthanks.

22. What were your favourite films of the year?

I didn’t see any films in 2011, not that I can think of.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Spent most of it prowling around the flat, building up to taking the overdose. I was 55.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A surprising number of people have said to me that surviving the overdose is a sign that The Universe™ has something better in store for me. Leaving aside the fact that I don’t believe in fate/destiny, some sort of incontrovertible, undeniable proof that said Universe™ really has decided to stop metaphorically kicking me in the lady bits and send some Good Things my way would cheer me up no end.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

Jeans and T-shirts, jumpers. It was nice to frock up when I went to gigs, but comfortable-and-practical ruled the day – as it has for most of my life.

26. What kept you sane?

I don’t know how to answer that. Define ‘sane’.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

I learned that I have some wonderful friends. I also learned that life is essentially meaningless and The Universe™ is a cruel, spiteful thing and a horrible place.

A black eyed dog he called at my door
A black eyed dog he called for more
A black eyed dog he knew my name
A black eyed dog he knew my name
A black eyed dog
A black eyed dog

A black eyed dog he called at my door
The black eyed dog he called for more

A television commercial for Libra tampons has generated a storm of controversy across numerous social networking sites. The advert depicts two women in a nightclub restroom engaging in a non-verbal competition while putting on makeup, which ends when one woman produces her Libra tampon, at which point the other woman leaves, apparently having ‘lost’ the competition because she doesn’t need or use tampons.

Much of the outrage I’ve seen has been at the depiction of one of the pair as being a caricature of transsexual/transgender (TS/TG) women and, while I empathise with that point of view, I also think that believing the ad to be transphobic and nothing more (or less) overlooks that its depiction of women generally plays on some very sexist stereotypes which are comprehensively offensive, whether you’re a TS/TG or cis woman.

The transphobia seems to me to arise from the use of a combination of two timeworn (and, in some circles, long-discredited) tropes: first, the essentialist view that TS/TG women are always the gender assigned at birth and it doesn’t matter how you change your external appearance, be it with cosmetics or even major abdominal surgery, you cannot change what’s on the inside. The second, related, subtext is the idea that TS/TG women are really just ‘men in dresses’ and it’s a stereotype which the ad hammers home without a shred of subtlety.

But to my mind, where the ad extends its offensiveness beyond transphobia, is in its reinforcement of the frankly naive and negative stereotypes that women are defined by their gender presentation and their reproductive capabilities. In my opinion, the insinuation that you are somehow more of a woman if you conform to patriarchal norms of how women should present themselves, with the further suggestion that you are not a “real” woman and some sort of ‘loser’ if you don’t menstruate, is not only offensive to all women, TS/TG or cis, but it’s also an insult to our intelligence as feminists.

I was going to post the YouTube archive of the ad (you can find it here) but right at this moment I think I’d rather hear PJ Harvey…

ETA: Via Stuff.co.nz, I note that Libra has apologised and withdrawn the ad. Thanks to Stephanie for the heads-up.

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Cross-posted from The F-Word

Now online: first mapping of legal and health care situation of trans people in 58 countries

The legal and health mapping was conducted by Transgender Europe’s Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide (TvT) research project in close cooperation with activists and experts from all world regions. A comprehensive questionnaire developed by the TvT project’s research team and reviewed by more than 15 researchers and activists from all six worlds regions was distributed to over 70 international activists and experts, who provided detailed information including comments and explanations on the specific situation in the respective country.

The mapping consists of different tables on:

1. Legal Gender Recognition: Change of Name & Change of Gender

The TvT tables provide detailed information on legal measures meant to guarantee a legal change of name and a legal change of gender for trans people. They list requirements such as ‘psychiatric diagnosis’, ‘gender reassignment surgery’ or ‘sterilization’. Unfortunately, the mapping shows that in all listed countries in which a legal change of gender is possible, a ‘psychiatric diagnosis’, i.e. a pathologization of the applying trans person, is required for a legal change of gender. Furthermore, most legal measures list ‘gender reassignment surgery’ or ‘sterilization’ as requirements for legal gender recognition, which clearly violates human rights.

The TvT tables also show the actual legal situation, meaning how legal change of name and gender are enacted in practice in the mapped countries. In some countries with existing legal measures, trans people’s applications are delayed for months and years, whereas in some countries without existing legal measures, trans people find other ways, for instance of legally changing their name. The TvT mapping moreover lists existing proposals regarding the legal change of name and gender in detail. This may serve both as an evaluation of the existing legal measures and situation and as an indicator of existing trans activism.

Click here to open this table

2. Anti-Discrimination, Hate Crime, and Asylum Legislation

The TvT tables provide detailed information regarding the inclusion of trans identity/gender identity in Anti-Discrimination and Hate Crime laws and in the Constitution. They also list the inclusion of trans people in Asylum guidelines. The mapping indicates that ‘gender identity’ is very rarely acknowledged as a ground of discrimination.

It also shows the legal situation, meaning the actual practices regarding these legal measures and guidelines, as well as proposals that challenge existing measures. These proposals very often demand the explicit inclusion of ‘gender identity’ into existing legal measures.

Click here to open this table

3. Criminalization, Prosecution, and State-sponsored Discrimination

The TvT tables show detailed information on the legal measures that criminalize trans people and trans related issues, such as ‘so-called cross-dressing’ and ‘gender reassignment surgery’. In some countries in the Global South and East these laws were introduced by colonial powers and missionaries and are not acted upon today. For instance, in some countries where ‘so-called cross-dressing’ is illegal, trans people are extremely visible and acknowledged within their culture and society rather than being prosecuted. There are, however, other countries where there is no criminalization, yet trans people are prosecuted with other laws that are used specifically against trans people, such as anti-prostitution, loitering or nuisance laws. The TvT tables are designed in a way to clearly show these important differences between legal criminalization and actual prosecution of trans people. They thus aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the legal situation beyond the mere existence of legal measures.

Click here to open this table

4. Trans-Specific Health Care: Hormone Therapy and Hormones & Gender Reassignment Treatment and Body Modifications

The TvT research has addressed not only the legal situation of trans people but also important aspects of trans people’s social situation. The TvT tables give a first insight into trans people’s health care situation, focusing on trans-specific hormone therapy and hormones as well as gender reassignment treatments and body modifications. The TvT tables show manifold aspects regarding medically supervised hormone therapy and gender reassignment treatments, including requirements like ‘psychiatric diagnosis’ and the availability of funding.

The tables moreover list the existence of alternative practices, such as acquiring hormones on the black market without medical supervision or applying industrial silicone without medical supervision. These ‘alternatives’ exist in countries where trans-specific health-care is not provided as well as in cases where trans people do not meet the requirements for medically supervised treatment. They can lead to serious health problems and in some cases even to death.

This table is in two parts: Click here to open part 1 – and – Click here to open part 2

A characteristic of Transgender Europe’s legal and health mapping is thus that it enables a quick overview of existing laws while at the same time providing detail and complexity regarding actual practices.

At present, 58 countries are listed in the following regions: Africa (9 countries), Asia (13 countries), Central and South America (9 countries), Europe (18 countries), and Oceania (9 countries). For India, a separate set of tables showing the situation in individual states is provided. Further countries will be added in due time, including a separate set of tables for the 8 Australian states and Brazil. The TvT mapping is designed such that it enables a regular update and extension of the tables. Therefore, any information and evaluation of the presented tables is highly welcomed and will be analysed and included in regular updates. In the course of 2012, we will step by step present more elaborated information, including context information, references, law texts, etc. in selected country sections of the TvT website. In these sections, the numerous activists and researchers that contributed to the TvT mapping will be fully acknowlegded.

Transgender Europe’s legal and health mapping can be accessed on the TvT project website at:

http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/en_US/mapping.htm

New research: In November 2011, the TvT research team together with six partner organizations from Asia, Eastern Europe, Oceania, and South America started a new survey in form of a peer research on trans people’s experiences with Transrespect and Transphobia.

The TvT project is funded by the Open Society Foundations, the ARCUS Foundation, and partly by the Heinrich Boell Foundation.

If you have further questions or if you want to support the research project, please contact the TvT research team:

Dr Carsten Balzer and Dr Jan Simon Hutta

research[at]transrespect-transphobia.org

or check our website:

www.transrespect-transphobia.org

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Cross-posted at Questioning Transphobia

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In other news: The bank situation has been resolved (at last), although I’ve yet to receive the promised replacement debit card… And now Christmas weekend looms and while I’m quite comfortable with spending it on my own, I wish I could be almost anywhere but London. I miss the countryside…

“Fight or flight”? I’ve no fight left in me; flight looks increasingly an attractive (not to mention the only) option. The two things stopping me from picking up my bag and leaving here right now are (a) where would I go and (b) what would I do when I get there? Oh, and of course: how far would I get with under £10 in cash to my name?

Time for some music to think to.

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls – I Am Disappeared

I keep having dreams of pioneers and pirate ships and Bob Dylan,
Of people wrapped up tight in the things that will kill them,
Of being trapped in a lift plunging straight to the bottom,
Of open seas and ways of life we’ve forgotten…
I keep having dreams…

We are blood cells alive in the bloodstream of the beating heart of the country.
We are electric pulses in the pathways of the sleeping soul of the country.
We are electric pulses in the pathways of the sleeping soul of the country.
[We are electric] The sleeping soul of the country.
[The sleeping soul of the country]

…in which Helen sings the blues (again)…

Today has been almost a microcosm of the roller-coaster ride that my life has been this year. Started promisingly, with a return to my part-time voluntary work after thinking it was all over; I was almost happy to be making the rush-hour trek across town this morning. I left after the usual half-day, looking forward to the office Christmas lunch on Friday. Then came the downswing: try to withdraw some cash at the bank only to find out my card’s been compromised and someone’s cleaned out my bank account. Sure, the bank has blocked the card, arranged for a new one and said they’ll refund the money stolen within 48 hours – but the problem is that the theft has pushed me right up to my overdraft limit, so there’ll likely be an unbudgeted-for charge for that. And, of course, this has happened at exactly the time my rent is due. So it looks like I’ll be defaulting on that – again. Not good. And don’t even start me on how I’m going to pay the other bills. One thing’s for sure, the heating will be staying off for a while longer. I only hope this doesn’t bring forward the inevitable homelessness that I was hoping to keep at arms’ length until the spring.

The whole thing has knocked me sideways, shattered my fragile day-to-day crawl back to some sort of precarious life and sent me spinning back towards that dark place I was in back in the summer.

I can’t take much more of this.

with ropes we set sail, in threads we land
thank you for the good times, damn you for the bad

The UK government’s Home Office today (7 December 2011) published its Transgender action plan [direct link to PDF download, 1mb]. The document describes “the specific actions we will take across government to advance transgender equality and it includes firm commitments to improve the lives of transgender people and support businesses and public bodies so they have the right tools to support transgender people“. [via]

The 20-page booklet, Advancing transgender equality: a plan for action, is divided into four main sections as follows:

• Section 1: Early years, education and social mobility
• Section 2: A fair and flexible labour market
• Section 3: Opening up public services and empowering individuals and communities
  • Health and social care
  • Identity and privacy
  • Civil society
  • Public sector Equality Duty
• Section 4: Changing culture and attitudes
  • Safety and support
  • Equal civil marriage
  • Promoting rights internationally

From the concluding part, Making it happen:

In line with the Government’s commitment to transparency and accountability, we are committed to do two things:

• We will work with and support public bodies, businesses, practitioners and the voluntary sector throughout the delivery of the commitments included in this action plan.
• In ‘Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender: Moving Forward’ we committed to launching a Call for Evidence (CfE) in 2012. This will also include a CfE on the actions which are included in the transgender equality action plan. This will allow anyone with an interest in transgender equality to let Government know their views and insights on the delivery of each section, how they may be implemented differently, or more effectively. We anticipate that the CfE will last for three months.

Only if we work together will we achieve the fairer, more equal and more prosperous society that we all want to see.

There’s a lot to take in here, and so far I’ve only given the document a quick lookover, but on first glance, it seems to be a useful step forward in supporting transgender people in several important key areas, including: tackling transphobic bullying in schools; ending discrimination in the workplace; supporting public bodies to deliver equality for everyone, including transgender people; and tackling prejudice and violence against transgender people.

Of course, how all this will translate into the real world, how the Government’s proposed frameworks are implemented (and accepted by mainstream society), remains to be seen. Let’s hope that it really does fulfil the Government’s stated wish “to act as a leader and catalyst for change, taking the first steps to advance transgender equality, both domestically and internationally“.

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Cross-posted at The F-Word