Down Memory Lane

by Katherine Cummings

(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.)

Some old photographs of life at the Gender Centre have recently been donated by Paula, who has been here almost from the beginning and has a fascinating store of anecdotes about The Early Days. Among the photos were a few from 1988, showing the Mardi Gras float which represented the S.S. Tiresias. The Gender Centre in those days was called Tiresias House. The S.S. Tiresias carried a bevy of gorgeously gowned transgenders, even if the word was not in common use in those days, and won the main prize for imaginative and well-executed floats. The trophy, a glass artefact, apparently resided in the Gender Centre for many years but has long since been appropriated by someone who fancied it and had a flawed understanding of the concept of property.

By coincidence I was also going through some of the old videotapes and found one which recorded the same event on video, starting with the two parts of the articulated S.S. Tiresias being assembled at the Haberfield house (still being used as accomodation by the Gender Centre), and then showing it setting out for its night of glory, observed by various neighbours in a state of bemused acceptance (at least there were no pitchforks or axes being waved and it was too early in the day for flaming torches). The rest of the video is a disappointment as it was taken during the parade without the benefit of supplementary lighting so that apart from the odd sparkler casting someone's feathers into high relief, or the occasional spotlight roaming over the good ship Tiresias and her gaudy crew, there is little to be seen, and the sound track imparts little of value, consisting of a babble of background noise but no real commentary.

But the Gender Centre were out there, being visible, and supporting the rest of the G.L.B.T.I.Q. alphabet soup.

These days there tend to be too many other things to attend to, too many more important projects to fund, and too many reports to write for the Gender Centre to be involved in projects such as this, so that although the Gender Centre is doing more for many more people than it did twenty years ago, our profile may not be as high with the general public as it was then.

There was also a videotape which recorded the official opening of Tiresias House in a number of snippets taken from news stories and interviews.

Frank Walker, who was Minister for Community Services, had supplied the initial funding, on the initiative of Roberta Perkins, who had been helping transgenders through the services of the Wayside Chapel. The news stories on the video were surprisingly respectful, considering the general attitude to the transgendered at the time, although their research into the name Tiresias was a little shaky. Greek mythology tells us that Tiresias was a philosopher who seemed to make a habit of annoying the Gods. There are variant versions of his story, as there usually are in mythology, but he is said to have been blinded by Athena because he came upon her bathing, although he was then compensated (?) by being the gift of understanding bird talk. Another version tells of his coming across two snakes, sacred to Hera (the wife of Zeus), copulating, and hitting them with a stick. Hera punished Tiresias for this perfectly understandable reaction by turning him into a woman. Another version has his blindness esulting from his indiscretion in revealing the fact that (having lived life both ways) he could assert that women gain more pleasure from sex than men do. Hera is said to have then blinded him for betraying this "women's business" secret, but Zeus compensated him with the ability to foretell the future, and gave him seven lifespans. The press made a dogs' breakfast out of all this, usually referring to Tiresias as a Greek God, although most of them picked up on the relevance of his having lived in two genders.

Some of the early clients of Tiresias House were interviewed following the "official" opening, which obviously occurred quite some time after the Centre commenced operations. The clients interviewed are matter of fact and straightforward with their viewpoints and contrast with the clientele I encountered on my first visit in mid-1986, when the Centre seemed to be home to a rather flamboyant lot of young sex-workers. As is the case with most institutions, there seem to have been changes in emphasis on the clientele being helped and perhaps this is as it should be. The transgender world has many parts and it would be foolishly, and even cruelly, restrictive for us to concentrate on one segment of our community to the exclusion of others.

There is a lot of our history locked up in untitled photos and unidentified videos to say nothing of the memories of those who lived the early years. Is it time for us to make a record of some of this oral history, which will otherwise be lost as surely as the trophy awarded to the S.S. Tiresias has disappeared into someone's private collection.

Maybe we should seek a grant from the Historical Society, or seek help from the Oral History Section of the State Library?

Maybe, too, it is time for us to look out more into the wider community and take part in joint functions such as the Mardi Gras and the Fair. We used to organise an annual Ball but last time we tried to organise one it was cancelled for lack of interest. Is the community changing or are times so desperate that few have the necessary disposable income any more?

I understand that the Gender Centre will be at the Fair in 2009, sharing a stall with the Inner City Legal Centre. That's a good start.

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.