Manager's Report

by Elizabeth Riley

(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.)

Attorney General's Funding

The Gender Centre has received a one-off Innovative Grant from the N.S.W. Attorney General's Crime Prevention Division to conduct an investigation into strategies to reduce violence against marginalized minority groups.

The project, spanning twelve months, will involve research into strategies at the local, national and international level and a comprehensive report with recommendations will be published at the six month mark. Katherine Cummings will be conducting the research with guidance from a Steering Committee with enthusiastic representation from N.S.W. Police, Attorney General's, South Sydney City Council, Marrickville Council, the Department of Community Services, the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project and the Department of Housing. I will be responsible for chairing the Steering Committee meetings.

The second stage of the project will involve a six month trial of the strategy/ies that promise the greatest degree of success. The nature of the trial will not be known until the research is concluded and the report is finalised. We are hopeful that this will be a ground breaking initiative that will produce long term results in reducing the levels of violence that our community has historically been subjected to.

Katherine will be seeking input to the project from members of the community so if you have any experiences that you feel could be useful, whether they be personal experiences of violence or personal strategies that you employ to maintain your own safety, I encourage you to contact Katherine at the centre.

What I find particularly encouraging about the project is the recognition our community is receiving at a government level that acknowledges our right to enjoy the same degree of safety and protection as is afforded the general community. This has obviously not always been our experience and it represents a significant shift towards the equitable and fair treatment of transgender people in N.S.W. I applaud the N.S.W. Government for its support and look forward to a successful and rewarding partnership.

Blazing Saddles

On Friday, July 5 the wildest bunch of cowboys and cowgirls you could imagine took off for a frivolous day of horse riding at Darkes Forrest Horse Riding Ranch. (Near Helensburgh). This was a fabulous event sponsored by South Sydney City Council particularly for residents and drop-in clients of The Gender Centre. Twenty-three of us, mostly beginners, took to the saddle for a trail ride through the scenic bush trails at the riding school.

We were scheduled to depart the centre at 10.00am but were delayed while we waited for the two participants from South Sydney Council to arrive in their van. I had earlier picked up a twenty two seat bus from the council depot in Zetland in readiness for our trip south. We eventually departed at about 10.30am, travelling in tandem, and after much chatter and lots of excellent music provided by Jade we arrived at Darkes Forrest at about 11.45. There were a few nervous faces around as we climbed off the bus and several hardy horse people took the opportunity to have a quick ciggy before we trooped across to the stables to collect our riding gear and horses.

When the formalities were finalised and we were all helmeted up we were assigned, according to our level of riding skill, to our horses. Despite the fact that I specified that I had nil experience I found myself mounted on one of the biggest horses at the ranch. (This had a lot to do with the fact that I am a rather big woman and a big horse was necessary if we were both going to survive the ride). His name was Getaway, (when they told me this I nearly fainted), but the staff assured me he was named after the TV show and not after any bad habits that I needed to worry about. Once I had mounted Getaway I made it very clear to him who was boss by letting him do whatever he wanted while I hung on tight with my eyes shut.

Soon the ride was underway and thankfully we had experienced riders from the school to accompany our group. They were dispersed through the group and they had all the horses pretty much under control though we did have the odd testing moment. The trail itself was quite rugged. We rode down into a valley over some fairly rough terrain until we finally crossed a river bed. Then we rode back up the other side of the valley which was quite steep in places. Poor old "Getaway" wasn't getting away anywhere fast on the uphill run. I felt so sorry for him having to lug my weight around on his back that I was almost tempted to get off and carry him for awhile.

Fortunately that was not necessary and we got back to the ranch in one piece. Judging from some of the cries I was hearing I am sure everyone else was having similar adventures to mine but I was concentrating so much on hanging on that I wasn't paying a lot of attention to what anyone else was doing.

When we finally got back to the ranch we were told to stay on our horses until one of the staff helped us dismount. (Very ladylike I thought. At least for the ladies). It wasn't until we hit the ground that we realised how sore we were. My legs almost buckled underneath me and I was walking around bandy legged for the next half hour. Once we had regained our composure we hobbled back to the bus and gingerly placed our tender backsides on our seats and headed off to the Royal National Park for a barbecue. This presented us with a minor disaster since we couldn't find any barbecues anywhere and as time was marching on we decided to head back to the Gender Centre Ranch for a barbecue in the sweeping paddocks of our own back yard. We didn't get to eat until about four o'clock, and everyone was pretty famished by then, but all in all everyone agreed that it had been a fantastic day and we all look forward to the possibility of enjoying some future activities with South Sydney City Council.

On behalf of everyone who took part I would like to express our thanks to South Sydney City Council and in particular to Suzie, the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender Liaison Officer and Jodie, the Sport and Recreation Officer, for making the day possible. You gals were just great!

Best wishes and a big Howdy Partner to you all!

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.