The Informer

4 Dec 2017

We’ve had a big win in the family court, but how can we support our trans community now & for the future : 4th December 2017

gender, Government & Organisations, Health, Marriage Equality, Media, Media, Medicine, Mental Health, National, News & Politics, Science & Medicine, Sexuality, Social Sciences, Society & Culture, the informer, World News

Thursday 30th November saw a landmark change in the legal requirements for transgender teens to be allowed access to hormone therapy. Teens who are experiencing gender dysphoria no longer have to argue their case in front of the family court.

The decision to start hormone therapy will instead be in the hands of the transgender teenagers themselves, as well as their families and doctor. While this is a great first step, there’s a lot more work to be done for the transgender community.

On this episode of The Informer we delve into what this means, as well as focus on how we can support our trans community in the future by asking what laws still need to be changed and what else do we need to do to support our trans and gender diverse community further.

We speak to:

• Rebekah Robertson, mother of a trans child and founder of Transcend, a parent-led peer support network for transgender children and their families that works with the Royal Children’s Hospital Gender Service about how the new law will impact the kinds of services that can be provided by the Gender Centre.
• Kochava Lilit from Ygender, a support and advocacy network for trans and gender diverse youth, for their perspective on what this change in law means for the trans and gender diverse young people.
• Karyn Banks, one of the founders of Parents of Gender Diverse Children, joins us to talk about some of the important things allies and families can and have been doing to support, and further the rights of trans and gender diverse people.
• Activist Sally Goldner talks about the accessibility of gender affirming services for older trans people. While the law change is an incredibly positive step for trans youth, it’s important to remember that trans people come in every age bracket.

Victories like the hormone replacement therapy law and a likely marriage reform have come about because of incredibly difficult and ongoing fights being put up by the community and our allies.

The final week of Parliament kicked off today and same sex marriage was the first off the bat with the un-amended Senate bill introduced to the lower house. It’s going to be a long week with a lot of speakers having something to say, and it’s very interesting to hear how the parties and individuals are framing equality. If amendments are made to the bill it will need to return to the senate for approval, which could see the issue drag on longer than it already has.

They say that history is written by the victor, and no matter which party your allegiance is or how you cast your vote, it is important to remember that the victor of Marriage Equality is not a political party that put us in a place to have a postal survey on our equal rights. It’s the LGBTI communities, the same sex couples and the individuals who, hopefully, finally will be treated equally under the law.

This episode of The Informer on JOY 94.9 was hosted by Lara Dickinson & Dean Arcuri.

 

 

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