Super Trans Peers Workshop

WHAT TO DO ABOUT

DISCRIMINATION, VILIFICATION

AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT.

TRIGGER WARNING

Many of the case studies we will talk about today are real life examples and contain offensive language, including transphobic words and behaviours.

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What is Gender Identity

Discrimination?

On 28 February 2003, a transwoman was walking down thestreet in front of her residence adjacent to the bottle shop, whensomeone inside that shop yelled out “drag queen”. The man from the grocery store next door laughed at this.

She later went to confront the man in the bottle shop. After purchasingsome alcohol she confronted him about his earlier behaviour and he then said “you are ugly, you know, really ugly”.

She then went to the grocery store to select some items. She confronted the grocer about his behaviour, and he denied it. Herefused to allow her to purchase the goods. The transwoman stuck her finger up and said “fuck off”.

M v A and U [2007] QADT 8 (16 March 2007)

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N1. Is it about ‘gender identity’?2. Is there an ‘area’?3. Is there unfavourable

treatment?4. Is it unfavourable treatment

compared with others in the same/similar circumstances?

DIRECT DISCRIMINATION CHECKLIST

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N 1. GENDER IDENITY[Anti-Discrimination Act (Qld) Definition]

1) Identifies (or has identified in the past)as a member of the opposite sex by living orseeking to live as member of that sex.

2) Is of an indeterminate sex and seeks to liveas a member of a particular sex.

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N 2. AREAS – Where are you protected?• At work, or looking for work• At school, university or TAFE• At entertainment venues, shops, restaurants, clubs (as a customer)• Obtaining services (e.g. tradesperson, doctors)• Accessing state or government services• Renting or buying property• Arranging insurance or a loan• Dealing with your superannuation fund• As a club member, or in seeking to become a member.

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NDirect discrimination is where a person is treated less favourably than another person in the sameor similar circumstances becauseof their gender identity.

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IO 1

Bob was working in a factory. It was a very male dominated workplace, where a lot of sexual banter went on. Bob started a transition to female, and started using the name Belinda at work.

One day, Jimmy the Foreman said to Belinda “You will never look like a real girl.” He made a number of remarks in front of colleagues, labelling her as a “clown” and a “cross-dresser”. Jimmy also objected to her use of the female toilets, saying “If you don’t get snipped within twelve months I’ll be lodging a formal complaint against you.”

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NIndirect discrimination is where a term is imposed on someone withwhich they cannot comply, a higherproportion of people who are not trans* would be able to comply, and the term is not reasonable.

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IO 2 Roy is transitioning from female to

male and is on hormone treatment. He frequents a bar, and when he last visited, he noticed there was a closed sign on the unisex toilet, whichhe had used in the past. He asked the bartender “Why is the toilet closed?”.

The bartender explained that there were complaints by customersbecause “perverts were getting up to no good in there”.

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What is Gender Identity

Vilification?

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N VILIFICATION

A person must not, by a public act,incite hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule ofpersons on the ground of thegender identity of the person ormembers of the group.

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N “A rival player said she should "show me your cock", while spectators and other opponents taunted her by saying she should not be touched because she might have AIDS.

Kristi is a 48-year-old former international modern pentathlon champion who says she has identified legally as female for seven years.”

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-in-talks-with-transgender-player-over-vilification-20130612-2o4hc.html#ixzz31quEODHV

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IO 3

A celebrity chef, Ralph, was being interviewed by a FM radio station. He had just been in the USA, and relayed a “humorous” story, about his experience in a bar over there.

Ralph joked about making two “trannies” angry by loudly telling his mate “those are two blokes”. When leaving the bar, the two transgender women were getting into a taxi with a man. Ralph claimed he said to the man “those are two trannies, don’t go home with them”. In the interview, Ralph said to the host, “these trannies had a client, I ruined them there.” The radio host had a good laugh and this and said “Lucky you warned them”. Ralph said “Yeah, I saved their lives! I was going to tip them to go away. Whenever you are in that situation, if you’ve got trannies after you, pay ‘em off”.

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What is Sexual Harassment?

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TSexual harassment is unwelcomewords or behaviour of a sexualnature in relation to another person, that is either:- done with the intention to offend,humiliate or intimidate; or- done in circumstances where areasonable person would realise the other person may be offended, humiliated or intimidated.

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A Facebook page for a health spa allowed for public comments to be made. Jenny is a therapist who identifies as gender fluid and works at the spa.

Jenny posted on the Facebook page that their prices are ‘coming down’. A comment was made by a customer, Jason, in reply that:“the only thing that is coming down are Jenny’s pants at the Wickham”.

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Now we know our rights,

what should we do?

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1. SELF-RESOLUTION

2. ADCQ COMPLAINT

3. TRIBUNAL/COURT ACTION

ADCQ COMPLAINTS

Written complaint (12 mths)

May be rejected at any stage

Respondent notified, asked for response

Conciliation (at conference)

Settlement agreed by both parties, agreement signed and registered

No settlement - may be referred to public hearing at QCAT

Complaint closed Decision made

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INT How to complain?

- Must be ‘in writing’.- Must include reasonablysufficient detail to indicate a breachof the Act.- Specific

- What words?- What actions?- By who?

- Dates (roughly).

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Does it fall under the Act?

Remember the key elementsof discrimination, vilificationand sexual harassment describedearlier in this presentation.

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RT What makes a good support

person?

- Not self-interested - is there to support the complainant’s interestsnot own interests- Willing to listen & engage- Able to see ‘big picture’- Empowers the complainant tomake an independent decision- Respectful dealings with otherparties.

SPOT THE CONTRAVENTIONS

You are a trans* peer who is ready to be contactedby trans* people as a support person. Brian is a f2m transgender person.

You get a call from Brian who is in tears. He has just got off the Caboolture train 3 stops early. Late at night, three drunk men started harassing him while passengers looked on. They started sniggering and pointed at Brian saying “What’s this over here?” . They started to move in closer and one said “Are you a real man?” and “What’s going on in those pants?”.

Brian started to move towards the door of the train, but one of the men grabbed him and started to yank down his pants. Brian yelled out “Help! Security!” and his tormentors ran off into the next carriage.

Continued on next slide

John and Barry, the security guards from QR ran over to find out what was going on. John yelled out to Barry “I think this is the girl who has asked for help”.

Barry said “Is she okay?” while running over to help. Barry addressed Brian saying “Hey young lady, are you okay?”. Brian said “I’m a guy.”

Then John said to Barry “She’s having us on, I think”. Brian got a bit emotional at this point, and said strongly “I’ve already told you once, I’m a guy”.

John said defensively “Now IT’s throwing a hissy fit!!”.

Following this, Brian started to tell John and Barry what had happened earlier, but they didn’t seem to believe him or show any interest in taking up the matter.

FINAL DISCUSSION POINT:

What are some strategies that trans* people and their allies can use to minimise stigma and prevent systemic discrimination?