|
Trans activists have met with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission (HREOC) and called for an inquiry into the legal challenges faced by people who are sex and gender diverse (SGD) – including those individuals who identify as transsexual, transgender, transsexed, intersex, androgynous or without a sex or gender identity.
Tracie O’Keefe, Steering Committee member of lobby group Sex And Gender Education (SAGE), and Katherine Cummings from the NSW Gender Centre, met with HREOC Commissioner Graeme Innes and some of his policymakers last Wednesday.
“We asked for an inquiry into the legal and medical inadequacies faced by sex- and gender-diverse people such as insufficient funding through Medicare for surgery,” O’Keefe told SX this week. “The law doesn’t cover us in many areas.”
SAGE has prepared an Equality Policy Guidance document for the federal government, outlining changes it would like to see implemented to allow SGD people to function more easily in society.
This includes Medicare refunds for sex- and gender-related treatments including hormones, top and bottom surgery, as well as psychology, psychiatry and counselling; the development of a set of legal policy guidelines for government employees on how to interact with SGD people respectfully; the development of a federal anti-discrimination policy; the addition of a third option on government forms so people can tick ‘other’ rather than a male or female pronoun; the implementation of laws prohibiting doctors and surgeons carrying out genital surgery or hormone treatment on children without their consent; changing the law to allow married SGD people to change their birth certificate without first having to obtain a divorce; allowing SGD people to change their legal documents without having to undergo genital surgery; placing SGD prisoners in facilities that keep them safe; and passport rights for SGD people.
O’Keefe said that SAGE decided to approach HREOC because its recent inquiry into same-sex entitlements ignored the rights of SGD people and politicians were not keen to take up the cause.
“Because sex- and gender-diverse people are such a small minority we are often ignored with regard to our rights,” she asserted.
“Politicians don’t want to get involved with issues facing our community because there are few votes in it. We have been unable to secure meetings with the federal Attorney-General or the federal Health Minister. Our only hope is bodies such as HREOC, which have the ability to look at the difficulties we face across the board.”
A spokesperson for Innes said the organisation is “considering what role HREOC, can play in addressing some of the legal challenges faced by people who are sex and gender diverse”.
The full Equality Policy Guidance document can be read at www.sageaustralia.org.
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
