Emergent Gender Identities

by Bill Robertson

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

Cultural identity ... is a matter of "becoming" as well as of "being". It belongs to the future as much as the past. It is not something that already exists, transcending place, time, history and culture. (Hall 1990:225)

In reality the transgender community is a network of communities, primarily split between political community which pursues ideals of political power and representation, and the other communities, which encompass the genuine diversity which political activists seek to represent.

While diversification is the spice of life, those of the community who compound political issues together with unresolved personal issues and who purport to represent the collective community can do the community as a whole great disfavour. The motive, while ostensibly caring is viewed by onlookers as self-serving and self-centered.

The tenacity and the richness of the emerging variety of gender subcultures within the transgender community cannot be sufficiently emphasised. What needs to be acknowledged, accepted and valued within the community itself are the contributions that everyone makes from the various communities all working towards a real sense of community development.

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.